Hardy Roses and Their Culture 
By George Norris, New York.* 
THERE is no flower more popular or better known 
than the rose. A garden without roses would be 
incomplete at the present day. The most impor- 
tant considerations in the formation of a rose garden 
are those of soil and position. In choosing a location 
for roses outside, an open spot with an east or south- 
ern exposure, and sheltered from the northwest by tall 
trees or buildings, is best. There the roses would get 
the full benefit of the sun, and at the same time would 
be sheltered from strons: winds. The soil should be a 
U'hite Killarncy. White Sport of the popular Killarney Rose. 
rich deep loam, w ell tlrained. Light sandy or gravelly 
soil, or cold, wet, heavy clay soils are not suitable. For 
light soils a good dressing of heavy loam and cowdung 
would be beneficial. For heavy soils leafmold_. horse 
manure and woodashes should be added. For ordinary 
soils nothing is better than a mulching of cow manure 
in the winter. The best time for planting is as early in 
spring as it is possible to get the ground in proper con- 
dition, although roses growing in pots can be trans- 
planted at almost any time, September and October are 
t\\ o good months for planting roses, as they have time 
to make new roots before the winter sets in. I have 
often planted roses from the greenhouse benches in June 
and had very good results from them in the fall. No 
manure should come in direct contact with the roots. 
In planting the strong growing varieties a space of 
about two feet six inches between the rows and two feet 
apart in the rows will give plenty of room. The weaker 
growing .kinds can be planted closer, fifteen to eighteen 
inches apart being about the right distance. All roses 
should be pruned when they are planted. 
In pruning we cut away certain portions of the wood 
to allow room for the better development of shoots which 
will produce flowers. This work is done early in spring, 
just before the plants start into growth. The weak 
growing varieties may be pruned to three or four eyes 
from the ground, but the stronger growing kinds should 
lie left much longer: si.x to ten inches of the previous 
year's wood could be left. Always prune to an outside 
eye or bud. The more tender varieties of tea roses 
should be left until the last; about the middle of .\pril 
is a good time to prune them. In pruning climbing 
roses all that is necessary is to cut out the old and use- 
less wood in summer just after they have finished flower- 
ing. This will help the plant to make good strong 
growths which will produce an abundance of flowers the 
following season. In the spring the shoots or laterals 
can be cut back and the long growths shortened also. 
After the work of pruning is done the ground should 
be cleaned, all prunings raked up and burned. Keep the 
surface of the soil stirred up and cultivated. The rose 
is propagated by seeds, cuttings, budding and grafting, 
but I am not going into details as regards propagating 
in this paper. I will merely say that the best way to 
grow roses from cuttings is to select partly ri]iened 
wood early in the fall, say September, and insert the cut- 
tings in sand in a frame or in the greenhouse. When 
the cuttings are rooted they should be potted up into 
254-inch pots and kept in the greenhouse. When these 
pots are filled with roots a further shift into 4-inch pots 
will be necessary. Many varieties of hybrid tea roses 
do well on their own roots. Others are better when they 
are budded on briar and manetti stocks. Roses are sub- 
ject to a great many insect pests and diseases. For 
greenfly a good spray is made of whale-oil soap, about 
one pound to eight gallons of water, to which about an 
ounce of nicotine has been added. Aphine and X. L. 
.\11. are ver}' good insecticides for keeping down green- 
fly, thrips, red spider, etc. For caterpillars dust pow- 
dered hellebore on early m the morning when the leaves 
.ire wet with dew. If there are any rose bugs, nothing 
Ijetter than to go over the plants every day and pick 
them off, ]5utting them in a can or jar containing some 
kerosene or gasolene. For mildew dust with grape dust 
•raper read before Riverdale, N. Y., Horticultural Society. 
American Pillar. Vigorous climbing rose of pink shade. 
145 
