The Cultivation of Flowers 
197 
when they may be badly injured by the late frosts. 
The knife should not be spared, either, on the rose bushes. 
Much more harm is done by not cutting enough out than 
by cutting too much. All the weak and useless wood 
should be cut right away, and the good strong shoots 
thinned out and cut well back 
to prevent overcrowding. The 
light and air must be allowed 
to get thoroughly into the 
bushes to ripen the wood ; 
otherwise one cannot hope to . 
get flowers of a high standard \ 
of quality. If the bushes are U 
not cut well back they will 
grow very tall and the buds 
at the base will remain dor- 
mant, thus giving the bushes 
a very unsightly appearance. 
In pruning the climbing 
varieties care must be exer- 
cised to keep the bottom of 
the bushes furnished with 
young growth; otherwise the 
result will be an array of bare 
stems, with perhaps a fine 
head of young growth at the top. To prevent this, two 
or three shoots should be cut down to near the base each 
season. Young shoots will then be sent up, and will keep 
the base of the wall, &c., covered with young wood and 
flowers. 
Rose - growing for exhibition is a very interesting 
Pruning 
