n Rose Culture 
f the American Rose Society 
iety, Harrisburg, Pa. (1928 American Rose Annual) 
Cut back the tops of spring-planted roses to 6 inches 
or less. Do not cut back roses planted in autumn until 
the following spring, after danger of severe feezing is past. 
Plant Hybrid Tea roses 12 to 18 inches apart, depend 
ing upon their size. Hybrid Perpetuals need 2 to 3 feet. 
Hardy Climbers should be 5 to 6 feet apart, either on a 
trellis or when grown as. pillars. 
In the South, Teas may require much more space. 
Cultivation 
Keep the surface of the rose bed loose all the time, 
unless it is protected by a mulch, but no mulch should be 
applied until summer is well advanced. 
Work the surface of the rose beds every week and after 
heavy rains. Loose soil is the best of all mulches. 
Early in the season give established roses a trowelful or 
two of fertilizer, stirred into the soil. Equal parts of 
wood-ashes, bone-meal, and dried sheep-manure are good for 
this purpose. 
Feed the roses liberally with liquid manure,* one-half 
gallon to a plant, when the flower-buds show color; and 
repeat it every two weeks until within a month of the 
first autumn frost. 
Pruning 
In the North, winter does most of the pruning. In 
the early spring, cut away dead wood and all weak, old 
wood. Shorten what is left to moderate length—6 to 12 
inches for Hybrid Teas and 18 inches to 3 feet for 
Hybrid Perpetuals. 
If especially fine flowers—but fewer of them—are 
wanted, prune harder. 
In the South, do not prune so severely. Let the 
bushes develop. 
Climbers require special treatment. Remove old worn- 
oiit canes immediately after the flowering season, and try 
to keep the plants within bounds by cutting out whole 
:anes. Do not "snip”. 
Climbing Hybrid Teas and Teas should not be cut at 
all if it can be helped. Save the old wood as long as 
possible; blooming shoots start from it. 
Fighting Pests 
Aphis or plant-lice, which gather on the tips of the 
shoots and buds, can be killed by spraying three days in 
succession with Black-Leaf 40 as directed on the package. 
This may be almost a continual job at certain seasons. 
Dust the plants every week with the Massey dust.f 
and make a routine of it. Start it as soon as the leaves 
come out and keep it up until it freezes or snows. This 
treatment will check black-spot and mildew. 
Cut away stems which show canker sports. 
If the leaves get rusty, spray the undersides with 
Black-Leaf 40. The trouble is red spider. 
Rose-bugs are best controlled by hand-picking. Try 
spraying them with hot water, over 120i° F., and tell us if 
it works. 
Establish your routine, but don’t be a slave to it. Use 
common sense in emergencies. If a heavy rain follows your 
spraying and dusting, spray or dust again. If your regular 
spraying day is Monday, and bugs appear on Sunday, spray 
on Sunday. 
Treating Sick Plants 
The best practice is to dig them up and burn them. If 
they are rare, or valued for special reasons, examine the 
canes for canker patches. 
*Make liquid manure by soaking a sack of fresh manure, 
or the commercial product, in water until it is the color of 
strong black tea. 
fMassey dust is made of nine parts dusting (not 
"flowers") sulphur and one part powdered lead arsenate. 
If large cankers are found, cut off the canes and burn 
them. Small cankers may be controlled by coating them 
with Semesan or Uspulun.* 
Examine the crown of the plant just under the surface. 
If a large, yellowish spongy knot, something like a walnut 
meat, is found, break it off, cut away the bark where it 
was attached and apply the same remedy. 
See if the roots are buried too deeply. If the bud is 
more than 2 inches under ground, raise the plant with a 
spade or dig it up and replant it in fresh ground. 
Don’t try to revive a sick plant by feeding it. Starving 
is better medicine; sometimes transplanting into poor ground 
effects astonishing cures. 
Cutting Roses 
Double roses should be allowed to open partially on the 
bush. Cut them as they start to unfold, early in the 
morning or after sundown. Take long stems, leaving stubs 
on the plant with two leaves on them. 
Single roses may be cut as tight buds. They open well 
indoors. 
Keep cut roses out of the sunlight and away from drafts. 
Do not put them in extremely cold water. Scalding water 
will open them quickly, and sometimes will revive withered 
ones. 
Winter Protection 
In the North, as soon as the frosts come, hill up the 
roses with soil as high as possible. Fill the spaces between 
the hills with manure, or with leaves, grass, straw, or other 
material if manure is not obtainable. When the ground is 
thoroughly frozen cover the tops with evergreen boughs, or 
more leaves, held in place by netting or laths. 
In the Far North it may be necessary to roof the bed 
tightly. It may be less trouble to dig up the roses, and 
keep them with their roots buried in soil in a cool cellar 
or shed, as dahlias, gladiolus, and cannas are kept. 
Climbers and Hybrid Perpetuals are about as hardy as 
peach trees. Where peaches cannot be grown they will need 
protection in winter. Lay the climbers on dry ground and 
cover with tarred paper, straw, or such material. Be sure 
the base of the canes is protected. 
Protect the Hybrid Perpetuals as high up as you expect to 
prune them in the spring, or bend the tops down and cover 
the whole plant. 
The primary principle of protection is to keep the roses 
dry and shielded from strong winter sunshine. 
The South needn’t bother with any of this. 
Classes of Roses 
Hybrid Teas, Teas, and Polyanthas bloom practically all 
the time. The Hybrid Teas and Polyanthas are best for 
the North. 
The South should plant mostly Teas and Noisettes. 
Teas and Hybrid Teas produce large, beautifully formed 
flowers for cutting. They are the finest of all roses. There 
are many kinds. 
Hybrid Perpetuals are for the North only. They are tall, 
bold plants which bloom profusely in early summer and 
again in autumn. 
Climbing Hybrid Teas. Climbing Teas, and Noisettes are 
almost everblooming, and are for the South only. 
Rugosas are big shrubs and along with Hugonis, Harri¬ 
son’s Yellow, and various other species, are for the 
North only. They require lots of room and are of little 
value unless the climate is too severe to grow anything 
else. Almost any of them will do. 
Hardy Climbers are mostly big, lusty plants suited best 
to the North, and fall into two classes, large-flowered and 
small-flowered. 
*Two commercial products available at seed-stores. 
on A . Ellison, Dallas, Texas 
