NATIONAL ROSE CONFERENCE. 



173 



bud, and, when the crop of flowers is over, probably about the 

 end of April, every upright rod must be cut clean away again 

 down to the horizontal branches, and during the summer fresh 

 shoots trained up in their room, and stopped as before on reach- 

 ing the top of the house. It is best to do this cutting away of 

 the upright rods gradually, during a week or so, and not all on 

 one day, because we thus lessen the severity of the check to the 

 plant. 



This is a simple, systematic, and regular method, which I 

 have found to answer extremely well. 



Conclusion. 



With this I must conclude — pruning is a most essential part 

 of our art, which must be patiently and thoroughly carried out 

 at an inclement time of year, when beautiful roses seem but a 

 dream of the future ; but the ardent rosarian will at all times 

 have the present season in view as the harvest and reward of 

 his labours, and will work zealously all the year round, in cold 

 and heat, rain and drought, frost and snow, shadow and shine, 

 in behalf of the motto of our craft, 



" Florcat Begina Florum." 



Discussion. 



The President said he had seen gardeners prune their grape 

 vines till tears came into his eyes. When he was a young 

 rosarian he pruned a Blairii No. 2, and the consequence was that 

 he got no bloom for a good many years. They must cut roses 

 according to their state. He was very glad that the system of 

 pegging-down had been mentioned, because he thought it 

 was a beautiful system which few rosarians adopted. He did 

 not know anything much more beautiful than a well-to-do bed 

 of pegged-down roses. Here and there they might diversify the 

 monotony of the surface by putting in short standards, or still 

 higher standards might be put in, which would give a beautiful 

 mass of roses. Very strong-growing roses must be selected. People 

 were very much afraid of transplanting, but it was a great mistake 

 to be afraid, and he had some roses which benefited very much 

 from transplanting. When he went to Eochester he found some 

 roses that were not fit to be seen. He said they must be burned, 



