HINTS ON PRUNING. 
The middle of March, or later, as may be necessary according to the lateness or earliness of vegetation, 
is the time to prune roses. It must not be forgotten there are two objects in view—one to produce large 
perfect flowers with which to win prizes at exhibitions, and the other to produce quantities of good flowers, 
either for the embellishment of the garden, or for the decoration of the house. It is quite impossible to lay 
down any hard and fast rule for pruning, because the method must necessarily vary according to the variety. 
For instance Ulrich Brunner and Victor Hugo cannot be treated alike in the method of pruning ; the former, 
being much the stronger growing, should not be pruned so hard as the latter, the shoots of which should 
be reduced to within three or four “eyes” of the base when required for exhibition purposes. 
As a general rule, it is advisable to reduce the length of the shoots by half, of all the strong growing 
H P., H.T., and other roses arriving from our gardens, with rods from 2 to 4ft. long in Autumn, before 
planting them, and in the following March finally prune them back to within 6 or 8 eyes of the base, not 
closer. Climbers should only be reduced by one-third of their entire length. Two or three years after 
planting the plants become rather dense and overcrowded, and then it is necessary to cut away all dead, 
weak or unripe (pithy) wood, clearing the centre of the plant first, leaving only the strongest and ripe shoots, 
not too many of them, and finally cutting these down to an “eye” pointing from the centre and to 
within 4 or 8 inches of the previous year's growth, removing some shoots from the centre of the plant to 
admit of strong young growth from the base during the coming summer, which in turn will be 
pruned the following spring, thus the vitality and symmetry of the plants are preserved. About the 
middle of May, or later, young growth will appear probably from every “eye,” and as many of these shoots 
may be deficient in flower buds, it is necessary to look over the plants carefully and remove any defective 
young growth, to make room for the more perfect, which will carry several flower buds, the majority of 
which should be pinched out, leaving only the terminal bud and, perhaps, one lateral bud on each shoot. 
To those who grow roses for the decoration of their gardens, the treatment of the plants when they 
j arrive from the nursery is precisely the same, but as a greater number of flowers are expected, and size and 
extra superb quality are not demanded, it goes without saying that to produce a greater number of blooms 
from the same number of plants, there must be a larger area from which to cut the larger number of blooms ; 
and to produce this, It follows that the shoots of the plants at pruning time must be left longer, with more 
“eyes,” from which more shoots may be thrown up, to produce more flowers. An apt scholar will learn 
more from his observant eye in one season, than books can teach him in years. The above remarks apply 
principally to the Hybrid Perpetual and Hybrid Tea classes. 
TEA ROSES.—The larger and finest varieties of these are grown principally for exhibition blooms ; 
few would grow such varieties as Comtesse de Nadaillac, Souvr. d’Elise, Ethel Brownlow, Cleopatra, La 
Boule d’Or, Princess of Wales, Princess Beatrice, etc., for the decoration of their garden without courting 
failure, and therefore to the non-exhibitor we say, beware of the Tea Roses described as moderate growers, 
and select from those described as vigorous, of which there are now many, such as Maman Cochet, Marie 
Van Houtte, Mine. Lambard, Lady Roberts, Mrs. Foley Hobbs and others. 
The exhibitor will do well to prune his Tea Roses late in March, or any time before lire second 
week in April, and he must prune very hard to produce the large perfect blooms required to win prizes, 
leaving two to four “eyes” on each shoot on the moderate growers such as those first-named, and from 
four to eight “eyes” on the stronger growing sorts referred to above. In all cases prune with judgment, 
and endeavour to benefit by experience. Usually at pruning time in April, the Teas have started into 
growth, and some varieties, being more excitable than others, have pushed out young shoots, six to eight 
inches long, leaving very few dormant buds ; this causes the beginner some anxiety, because he thinks if 
he leaves these young shoots on the plant the flowers will be useless; either they will be too early, or 
they will be imperfect. Our advice is to leave some of those young shoots untouched, to promote and 
encourage root action. 
We advise those who grow Roses, either as standards or half-standards, or as bushes 
in beds, for the decoration of their garden and not for exhibiting, to prune sparingly, 
merely cutting away any dead or unripe (pithy) wood, and slightly reduce in length the 
stronger and longer shoots, always of course thinning out the centre of the plants, so as to 
admit light and air. 
Abbreviations used : - Vig., denotes Vigorous habit of Growth; Rob., Robust habit of Growth; 
Mod., Moderate habit of Growth. 
Varieties specially recommended for Exhibition are marked thus* 
Varieties printed in larger type are the new roses of 1913. 
The National Rose Society’s Hints on Pruning Roses, post free, 2s. 8d. 
