42 
consists really more in thinning. Remove 
the flower trusses as soon as the flowers fade 
in autumn. Do not attempt to prune until 
spring, when remove all dead growths, thin 
out the weakly ones, and train all strong, 
young growths of the previous season in 
position. It is these growths that you will 
depend upon for flowers, to take the place 
of the old ones. If necessary to shorten the 
growths of climbers, cut them back to a 
sound bud, simply removing the weak ends. 
Manuring— Roses do not require continual 
heavy applications of manure. It is the best 
practice to afford medium dressings an- 
nually. Cow manure is the best general one 
to apply. Should, however, rank flowerless 
growth be produced as a result of too much 
nitrogen from the manure, or should the beds 
become sour through its continued use, 
phosphates in some form should be applied. 
Super phosphate is excellent. It will aid 
greatly in the production of flowers, and also 
in sweetening the soil. It may be applied 
sparingly, about one ounce to the square 
yard, during spring. Bone flour or meal, also 
excellent phosphatic manures, may be applied 
during the fall. They decompose slowly, and 
may be relied upon to be of great value to 
the plants when flowers are forming during 
the following season. Two ounces to the 
square yard is about the proper amount to 
apply. Weak growing Roses may often be 
stimulated by applications of diluted urine 
from the stables. It is good to apply this to 
all Roses which are not vigorous, only, how- 
ever, during their growing period. 
Propagation — The amateur Rose grower 
usually does not care to practice the budding 
of Roses as the process though simple entails 
certain facilities which he does not always 
possess. There is, however, a very easy way 
of raising Roses from cuttings, one which 
anyone may practice, but which is not gen- 
erally known. When Roses with fairly vigor- 
ous stems (not coarse) are cut for home 
decoration as soon as the petals fall make 
cuttings of the stems about eight inches 
long. Cut them directly below a joint at 
the bottom. Insert these firmly to a depth 
of about four inches in a shaded position of 
the garden in groups of four or five. Cover 
them with a one-half gallon or larger glass 
pickle jar, and water them occasionally. By 
fall many cuttings will have rooted, and the 
plants may be transferred to other positions 
during spring. 
Notes on Pruning. 
LILLIAN C. AT.DERSON in Woman's National Farm 
and Garden Association Bulletin. 
The first Roses to be pruned are the 
climbers. Perhaps your climbers have been 
neglected and left unpruned for years. In 
this case they may be so overgrown and 
tangled that the only way is to loosen the 
whole mass, untangle the growths as far as 
possible, and cut out the oldest canes down 
to the ground, prune back the laterals to 
from two to four vigorous buds, and tie again 
into place. 
When the Rose is trained to a trellis or 
ornamental archway any shoots that will not 
conveniently tie in should be cut out. All 
the shoots should be tied on one side of a 
wire or trellis, never twisted in and out, as 
this method makes pruning each year an im- 
possibility. The ties must be loose enough 
to allow the stem to grow. 
The Wichurianas, such as Dorothy Perkins , 
require little pruning except thinning. They 
bloom later on the young growths. 
Wichurianas crossed with Tea Roses bloom 
more on the older wood so that these require 
less thinning out of old canes. Example: Dr. 
Van Fleet. Multiflora hybrids bloom pro- 
fusely on their laterals with a drooping 
effect. In covering a trellis some canes 
should be shortened to produce laterals at a 
lower level. Example: Crimson Rambler, 
American Pillar. 
(Brower 
Our special effect Wichurianas may have 
all the old wood cut out and the young 
growths bent over arches will break into a 
profusion of bloom. The Briers are not very 
vigorous growers and need practically no 
pruning beyond the removal of dead wood. 
After the climbers have been tied into 
place the Bush Roses will most likely be 
needing attention. It is safer not to prune 
Bush Roses until after danger from heavy 
frost is over— about the last week of March 
or first week in April in the neighborhood of 
New York. After the winter covering has 
been taken off, look over each plant care- 
fully and cut out all dead wood and growths 
that rub against one another. In pruning 
Roses one should always try to picture the 
plant that will result from the cuts made. 
The cut should be slanting just above the 
bud. A sharp knife will do the best pruning, 
but the amateur will do less damage to him- 
self or to the Rose bush with a pair of good 
pruning shears, taking care to use them 
without twisting for fear of making a jagged 
cut. 
As a general rule the weakest growers in 
each of the three sections, (1) Hybrid Per- 
petuals, (2) Hybrid Teas, and (3) Teas, 
should be pruned most severely, for the 
reason that they have not a sufficient flow 
of sap to supply more than a few buds. The 
strong growers, on the other hand, will 
supply several shoots with sufficient nourish- 
ment to produce good blooms. Hybrid per- 
petuals and hybrid teas may be pruned back 
to six eyes to produce a number of blooms, 
(2-4) buds for a very few large blooms. 
Old clothing, a pair of stout gloves, a 
small pruning saw, courage, confidence, and 
a good pair of pruning shears are the neces- 
sary outfit for the Rose pruner. 
A Thrifty Way to Start 
in the Gladiolus Business. 
[ Written expressly ftr The Flower Grower. ] 
At intervals I observe in The Flower 
Grower inquiries as to the best way 
to get a start in Gladiolus growing and 
with more or less interest I note the 
replies to such inquiries, such as ad- 
vice to purchase bulblets and grow 
stock from them, or to purchase cer- 
tain sizes of bulbs, and so on. 
Whenever I read anything on this 
topic I think of how my wife made her 
start. It is not so prosaic as some of 
those other ways, hence may not be so 
practical, and possibly may not meet 
the approval of some of the more ex- 
perienced growers, but it may interest 
their wives, so I am going to tell 
about it. 
It began when I was considering 
what I should buy in planting stock, 
one Spring. I was looking over a 
special leaflet descriptive of one of the 
newer varieties which was yet rather 
high-priced, and made the audible re- 
mark that it was too expensive for 
me to indulge in. 
Then up spake the wife : “ How 
many would ten dollars buy ?” I re- 
plied that it would buy a hundred or so 
in blooming size or five hundred little 
ones of a quarter-inch. “ Well,” said 
she, “ I believe I will start in the busi- 
ness. Order the 500 for me. I have 
ten dollars that I’m game enough to 
invest in those, if you are not.” “ All 
right,” said I, “ Luck to you.” And 
next day she said : “ Better just order 
a thousand for me ; I can afford that 
many.” And so the order was given. 
March, 1920 
In due course the little bulbs came ; 
twenty dollars’ worth in a little bag, 
looking about like three cents worth 
of peanuts. The grower from whom 
they were bought was a personal friend 
of ours, and, as I had mentioned that 
Mrs. H. was investing in this particular 
item, showed his appreciation of her 
enterprise by sending her gratis a bulb 
of his own new and beautiful Louise, 
(then selling for three dollars,) another 
of Mrs. Dr. Norton, a dozen Mrs. G. W. 
Moulton, another dozen or so of Mary 
Fennell, Rosebud , etc., and last but not 
least a bulb of Golden Measure. 
Such a box of treasures would have 
satisfied a man, but women, you know, 
are different. After delighted contem- 
plation of them she turned to me and 
said : “ You have a Louise, haven’t you? 
Now it would hardly do for us both to 
be growing the same sorts so you may 
just give that to me.” “Thank you 
kindly,” sezzi, “And can’t I also give 
you my Norton and all my Moultons 
and Fennells ?" “Well, that is a good 
suggestion,” said she, “ then we will 
not get our stocks mixed.” 
So then she had a stock worth over 
fifty dollars, and, do you know, when 
my bill came and was ultimately paid, 
there was not one word said by her 
about that twenty, and I haven’t seen 
it yet ! 
There are ways and ways to get 
a start in Gladiolus growing, but I 
claim this beats the rest of them. 
C. R. Hinkle. 
Unless we have a wrong estimate of the 
female sex we do not expect that Mr. Hinkle 
will be allowed to let the matter rest where 
he has ended. We shall not be surprised to 
hear from Mrs. Hinkle in next month’s 
Flower Grower.— (Editor.) 
American Dahlia Society. 
[Continued from page 35.] 
The New Brunswick station has not the 
funds, and as the society will take care of 
all other expenses it is hoped that some 
Dahlia lover will advance about $400 to 
start preparations. 
Edward C. Vick of 205 Elwood avenue, this 
city, is secretary of the American Dahlia 
Society, and he will be glad to accept con- 
tributions. Mr. Vick, who is recognized as 
one of the greatest horticultural authorities 
in the country, worked for many years in 
bringing the trial grounds to New Jersey. 
His collection of rare horticulture books is 
known over the world. (Newark, N. J., 
Sunday Call.) 
Gladiolus Information. 
The bound volumes of The Modern 
Gladiolus Grower are still available 
as per advertising columns, and to- 
gether with the files of The Flower 
Grower from January 1918 to date, 
containing without doubt, more infor- 
mation on the Gladiolus, Gladiolus 
growing and facts and information re- 
lating thereto than can be found in all 
other sources of information put to- 
gether. Therefore, those who are in- 
terested in growing Gladioli should 
secure the complete bound volumes 
while they are still available. The 
present supply will not last long and 
the price will doubtless be higher. 
