THE ROSE GARDEN. 
107 
at all ; so that if any present rather a pretty 
shape without pruning, they may be left to 
bloom as they are, and thus start a little 
a-head of the early pruned ones ; but the ob- 
ject of pruning half now, and half, as we 
shall hereafter recommend, nest month, is to 
have two complete seasons, for next month 
the buds nearer the ends of the branches will 
have advanced considerably, and those nearest 
the stem will have been retarded by the growth 
of the others : by pruning off all the buds which 
are so forward, and leaving only those which 
give hardly any indication of starting, this 
will throw them back a good month, and thus 
give you two complete seasons of the same 
kind of Rose, to say nothing of the different 
seasons at which many of these sorts come 
in flower ; so that with care, and pruning 
some hack early, and others late, a very con- 
tinuous bloom may be secured with the 
various Roses. The principal pruning re- 
quired by the China and Noisette kinds, is 
to cut out the small, spindly, weak shoots 
from all parts, and shorten the principal 
branches and shoots to the form you want them 
to assume ; but weak thin shoots should never 
be allowed to remain on, for they cannot 
throw out strong growth, and they take away 
the strength from those which can. If the 
spring be very backward, and the buds of the 
briars have not begun to start, they may still 
be planted for stocks, but it is a forlorn hope 
when things are left past the proper season. 
Nothing but just getting possession of a place, 
and an attempt to save a season with some out 
of a number, can j ustify it. In pruning the tall- 
growing Roses for pillars, or walls, or fronts 
of houses, the small thin stuff should be cut 
clean out, and those strong enough to bear 
flowers should he shortened, except where you 
want the wood. If this be not well looked 
to, the thin shoots, which are only half-grown, 
and half-ripened, will often die back, and the 
wood gets blind and bare ; whereas, by cutting 
any useless shoots away clean, stronger buds 
will come away from the base, and growth is 
maintained all over the stems, however tall. 
The new Rose, the Bridal- Wreath, is of rather 
a singular habit • we have seen a shoot twelve 
feet long, that flowered in large bunches of 
white flowers at every joint, from the one 
next the ground to the top ; and it is not 
i ry Rose that will do this, although, by 
judicious pruning, much may be done. Roses, 
like many other tilings, if left to themselves, 
grow freely at the head, or near the top, and, 
unless they be checked by pruning, the stems 
get bare. 
Cli>iih/ng Roses. — Many Climbing Roses 
should be spurred from the bottom to the top, 
that is, the shoots cut into two or three eyes, 
more or less, according to the space they have 
to occupy ; and this attention to the work you 
wish a Rose to do, the space it has to cover, 
the shape you wish it to assume, is the more 
necessary, because the neglect is so general 
among all classes of gardeners. 
Fastenings. — Looking well to the fasten- 
ings and stakes, treading the ground close 
about the roots, and removing all suckers and 
shoots of the stock, is merely routine busi- 
ness, which is necessary, but too often thought 
little of until it is forced upon us. 
Roses in pots. — Roses forcing, small China 
Roses for bedding out, and cuttings ready to 
pot off, should be attended to, so as to keep 
them now upon the move. Look well over 
the previous month's directions, and do every 
thing that has been recommended and left 
undone. 
Cuttings for grafting. — At the end of the 
month gather all your cuttings for grafting, 
the fresher they are the better, and the wood 
must be ripe. Those you have already got, if 
any, will not have been much the worse for keep- 
ing if they have been put in the ground, because 
Rose-cuttings will actually strike and do well; 
and as they cannot be much the worse while 
they are placed in the ground, why they will 
answer the purpose of grafting : but the pre- 
sent month is better for it than last, and as it 
is pruning month there is no difiiculty about 
cuttings. 
Seedling Roses — Sow seeds in large pots or 
pans, in good rich soil, strewing them thinly, 
and just covering them with sifted mould ; 
care must be taken that the seeds, when once 
sown, should never be thoroughly dry, for 
alternations of wet and dry would destroy 
them. In a large body of earth, such as that 
in a carnation pot, there will be enough mois- 
ture to preserve seed damp for a very 
long time. These should be set in a cold 
frame. 
Seedlings of last year's sowing must be 
cleared of weeds, and if any of them are 
budded look well to them, and see that the 
stocks are freed from all shoots and buds of 
their own growth, as they will, if allowed to 
grow, greatly check the buds which are on 
them. If any seedlings of last year remain 
in the pans, and have not been planted out 
in pots singly, they should be potted now in 
size sixty, or left to plant out in the open 
ground in May. Hut as the bulk of them may 
be already so treated, or planted in the open 
bods, to be sheltered merely by litter, the only 
particular thing to attend to is the weeding, 
stirring the earth between them, and generally 
keeping them clean. Beware, too, of slugs and 
snails; if there lie any in the neighbourhood; 
use all the remedies for catching them in the 
bed, and preventing others from entering 
them. 
