328 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 7. 
that every healthy Rose in this country may he brought 
back from a naked condition, or from an uneven growth, 
or from too much growth, to bloom as well as this very 
Rose, by the same rules which were applied in this in¬ 
stance, and by no others; therefore, although I have 
written on the very point two years, let me now give 
you a condensed history of the treatment from the first to 
last July,. t - 
Before the leaves turned colour in October, I pruned 
all the very weak shoots I could find about the bottom 
of the Rose, which is trained against a west wall, and is 
from twenty to twenty-five feet high, and spread in pro¬ 
portion. In the last week in February the middlings 
were pruned, some to four inches, some to six inches, 
and some to a little more, but all the small ones were 
cut back in October to one or two eyes; early in March 
the plant was in leaf—I mean the upper part of it—and 
odd enough it looked, some of last year’s shoots being 
from three to six feet long. About the middle of April, 
or rather later, I went over the topmost part and cut 
off every leaf, and down to where the eyes seemed yet 
sleepy ; "by this time, the little buds at the bottom were 
getting into leaf, and those on the middle parts were full 
and plump, the top ones being thus caught nodding were 
just as I have stated; not a single bloom did we get 
that year from this Rose. In July, the stronger shoots 
were stopped, here and there, and no more; the rest 
were “ tacked in” to the end of October, and the 
smallest were then cut as before, to one or two eyes; 
the middle-sized ones ditto in February; and the strong 
in April; not a single Rose, or very few indeed this 
season, also, and none were expected; but our growths 
were visibly getting more into a balance; and ditto 
again till last April, when all the long shoots were left 
untouched, and ours was the best bloomed Blairii in 
the county this season; then, after flowering, we turned 
a new leaf—the very leaf which some people would have 
turned first of all. We pruned the plant as fairly as ever 
a Rose was pruned in February, or all through the 
winter; the pruning itself was odd, if we might call it 
pruning—for it was an exceptional case—the plant was 
too full of wood, and at least two whole shoots were 
cut clean away for every one that was left above the 
middle of the plant; and cut so close that you might 
think no more shoots would ever come from the same 
parts—but that we shall see; all that are now left are 
medium-sized shoots, and these are nailed in their full 
length to flower next year, and I would not have them 
touched for the world, till after they have bloomed next 
July; then they ought to be clean cutout, and any 
that may be considered too strong as well; but for two 
or three years to come, perhaps always, we shall have 
to cut-in the very weakest shoots to two or three eyes 
in October, not a day later. 
Then, to make a short story of it, all these summer 
Roses which “ run away ” from you ought to be pruned 
at the end of July, and only then ; the pruning to be a 
close cutting of all the strongest shoots till you are sure 
the plant is thin enough; and what shoots you leave 
to leave them at their full length ; at least, for my part, 
I can see no use in cutting them a little back. Again, 
when you see a Rose getting bare below, you must 
have an October pruning to one or two eyes in addition 
to the July cutting out. D. Beaton. 
Orange Trees at the Luxembourg and Ver¬ 
sailles. —The pomegranate and orange trees of the 
garden of the Luxembourg are at present being trans¬ 
ferred into new cases of larger size. The collection of 
orange trees belonging to the Luxembourg is one of the 
most remarkable of any of the public gardens in France, 
both from the number and age of the trees. Orange 
trees, it is known, attain a vast age. In the orangery 
at Versailles is one known under the three names of 
of “Grand Connetable,” “Francois I.,” and “Grand 
Bourbon,” which is more than 400 years old. It came 
from some pippins of a tree of bitter oranges planted in 
a pot at the commencement of the 15th century, by 
Eleanora of Castile, wife of Charles III., King of 
Navarre. The trees which sprang from them were pre¬ 
served in the same case up to 1409, at Pampeluna ; they 
afterwards passed into different hands, as rare and pre¬ 
cious objects; and then became the property of the 
Constable de Bourbon, who placed them in his chateau 
de Chantelle, in the Bourbonnais. The property of the 
constable having been confiscated in 1522, the orange 
trees were sent to decorate the Palace of Fontainebleau, 
which Francois I. had caused to be restored and 
enlarged. When Louis XIV. had completed Versailles, 
and built its magnificent orangery, he gave orders that 
all the orange - trees existing in the Royal residences 
should be conveyed to it; this was in 1084, and the 
orange-trees of Pampeluna, which were among those 
thus removed, were then two-and-a-half centuries old. 
The “ Grand Constable,” the most remarkable of them, 
is, notwithstanding its great age, still perfectly vigorous.— 
Oalignani’s Messenger. 
MEALY BUG, AND OTHER INSECTS. 
“ Sir, —I should feel greatly obliged to you if you 
could inform me how to get rid of the Mealy Bug, as I 
am troubled with it among the Vines and Peach-trees in 
the house. I had the Vines cleaned of all the rough 
bark, and well painted with lib. of sulphur, 1 lb. of soft- 
soap, and a little tobacco-water and soot and lime; still 
they make their appearance on the Vines by the time 
the Grapes are being thinned. There are plants culti¬ 
vated in the house : stove plants in one, and greenhouse 
plants in another. I could clean all the plants out of 
the Peach-house and one Vinery, and I think I could 
lay the other plants down on the floor and cover them 
over, if there is anything that I could suffocate them 
with. I place the early Vines in a box. Will it be the 
best to dress the Vines before they are placed in the 
box, or when they are taken out to force ? One house 
of Grapes are now ripe ; the other being thinned. I 
have dressed the last house over on the stem with the 
mixture recommended in The Cottage Gardeners’ Dic¬ 
tionary. I should be much obliged for an answer 
through The Cottage Gardener. —A Sufferer.” 
It so happens that I have had several private letters 
of a similar purport to the above. The gardening 
public lias come to look upon the presence of insects 
so much as just another expression for bad gardening, 
that but few of any eminence will come the length of 
owning that they practically know anything at all about 
them, though many an hour may be spent in routing 
them out, and preventing them obtruding upon the eye. 
There are many great men above this weakness, and 
who consider it to be no mark of disgrace freely to own 
that they have to battle with these enemies, and are 
sometimes likely to be be worsted. I recollect, some 
time ago, admiring a plant exceedingly, which a great 
gardener possessed in extra abundance, and thoroughly 
healthy and cleanly they looked; but on telling me I 
was quite welcome to a plant or two, he added the insinu¬ 
ation, “ I must tell you that I have lately got the Mealy 
Bug in my collection; so you may please yourself.” 
I did please myself—took the plant, kept it by itself, 
noticed the intruder in the course of a month, and after 
various cleanings, finding it still appeared, I was forced 
to throw the plant to the rubbish-heap, after securing a 
stem cutting, on which all trace of insects and eggs was 
