January 17 .] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
20 !) 
the blossom-bud; and another close on the heels of 
the germinating period of the leaves. About subse¬ 
quent culture, waterings, &c., more anon. 
R. Errington. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
RosE-)'RUNiNG.—Before I resume my remarks on 
hardy climbers, I wish to explain, in a homely way, a 
question which was lately put forward about pruning 
roses. It was a very simple question, it is true; but 
the explanation given in a proper answer to it involves 
the principle on which the correct pruning of all 
trees and bushes, whether the pruning be desired to 
facilitate the production of flowers and fruit, or that 
of timber. It is true, that there are those who firmly, 
and conscientiously, believe that timber is produced 
faster aud better without any pruning at all; and, 
very likely, out of a hundred trees planted with a 
view to profit, a certain number of them might be 
found to do very well without pruning; but that 
does not affect the question of pruning either way. 
But, no matter, what we have now to consider is 
this—How is it that some writers recommend roses to 
be pruned as early as October, while others prefer 
November, or any open weather through the winter 
to the end of February ; and some advise the months 
of March and April? Now all these seasons may, 
or may not be, the best time to prune roses ; for all 
that depends on the locality, the soil, and kinds of 
roses to be pruned, and the object the pruner has 
in view: or, in few words, the proper season to 
prune roses depends on local circumstances, without 
affecting the principles on which all pruning is 
founded. 
Vegetable physiologists—or people who can ex- 
plaiu the real nature of plants—have found out, and 
taught us, that the sap, or juices, of plants—out of 
which all their parts are formed—is never entirely 
at rest, not even in the dead of winter, and this is 
the first grand step to find out the best time to prune 
any plant on the principle of pruning. Now, mind, 
we must never loose sight of this grand fact; and 
the second important fact is this, that no addition 
can be made to the body or substance of a plant 
from the fall of the leaf until the plant is again 
covered with leaves next summer. A fortnight before 
this last Christmas, the buds of the Honeysuckles, 
Jessamines, Roses, &c., were as full, and as plump, as 
we have some years noticed them to be in March and 
April; and this was caused by the rising of the sap 
more freely than is usual, owing to the fine weather. 
Now, the fine seasonable “ Christmas weather,” with 
sharp frosts, and cold dry winds, put a sudden stop 
to all this premature swelling of the buds; still the 
buds are as plump as they were before the frost set 
in; and, if we examine them, we shall find the fullest 
ones are at the very point of the shoots, because it is 
easier for the sap to go straight up to the top than 
to turn into the side buds. But as soon as the top 
bud is quite full, aud ready to burst—which, how¬ 
ever, it cannot do till the proper season—the next 
bud below it is similarly charged, and so on all the 
way down, bud by bud, is swollen out with the 
never-stagnant sap. But very often, and particularly 
in some roses, the buds at the bottom of the young 
shoots arc seldom influenced by this winter flow of 
sap before the growing season conics round, and 
then the top buds burst into leaf, giving a natural 
opening for the sap to flow upwards, which it will 
do in the spring, with all speed, without waiting to 
fill the lower buds at all; and that is just the way, 
and the reason, why roses, apple-trees, and many 
other plants, get naked below, in the course of time, 
unless they are pruned; and, as people do not like 
to see half naked branches on a plant, they have 
recourse to pruning. 
Therefore, the first step in the art of pruning is 
merely to provide that a plant is kept clothed with 
leaves from top to bottom, by cutting off the upper 
part of the young brandies every winter, to cause 
the bottom buds on them to start into growth, and 
so clothe all parts of the plant. But when a plant 
is to be pruned for some other purpose besides that 
of furnishing it with a full complement of leaves—• 
say, to cause it to flower very strongly, or to en¬ 
courage it to carry a heavy crop of fruit, to invigor¬ 
ate a languishing plant, or to check an over-luxuriant 
one (for pruning is resorted to for all these and other 
purposes)—I say, when a plant is to be pruned for a 
particular purpose, it stands to reason that a certain 
period is better than any other for pruning for that 
purpose. Now, practice lias to find out the best time 
for this particular pruning, and here theory comes 
in to explain to practice how it is that such particu¬ 
lar season is the best for that kind of work. For, 
like all of us, practice now-a-days will not rest satis¬ 
fied with merely doing a thing in the best manner, 
but must—child-like—inquire the reason why it is 
the best way? 
From all this it must be evident, that when a 
gardener is asked, what is the best time to prune 
roses? he cannot possibly give the best answer; he 
can only guess a proximate answer, or an answer 
near to the mark. But if he were asked, what is the 
best time to prune roses which were so strong as to 
run into each other all over a bed without flowering 
well ? he could say at once, with confidence, why, 
you must prune them so as to diminish their vigour 
as far as pruning can do it; and the time for that is 
as late in the spring as it is safe to trust them with 
a little growth; or, say when the top shoots have 
made four or five leaves each. By such very late 
pruning the accumulation of sap for many months 
is cast away, and the plants are so far reduced in 
strength. A friend told me, that he nearly killed 
the half of a large collection of roses about ten years 
since, by pruning them two seasons in succession 
as late as April, after they had broken into leaf; but 
that some strong Hybrid Chinas and Bourbons were 
much improved by the late pruning. 
I recollect, perfectly well, that it was a favourite 
theory, at that time, to prune part of the roses as 
late as possible, in order to put off their flowering to 
a late period, and so lengthening the blooming 
season. A very good idea; but those who so pruned 
indiscriminately, like my friend, will be more cau¬ 
tious for the rest of their lives. 
Not to go to such extremes, if we suppose a case 
where none but the most vigorous kinds of roses 
are grown, and that the soil is in all respects per¬ 
fectly suitable to them, there can be no question 
that March would be a better time to prune them 
than the previous October, because they would thus 
annually be robbed, as it were, of a portion of the 
sap—that portion which accumulated in the upper 
parts of the shoots since the fall of the leaf—and by 
that means would be so far checked ; although such 
roses, in the supposed soil, would always keep on the 
verge of over luxuriance. But there is no place in 
five hundred where a case like this could be met 
with ; therefore, there is not a place, out ot so many, 
where it would be advisable, or prudent, to put oft 
the pruning to so late in the spring. But where 
