TREATMENT OF ROSE BUSHES 
ON RECEIPT 
Plant Rose bushes as soon as possible 
after they are received. The roots are 
packed in damp moss in shipment, but this 
cannot keep them indefinitely. If tne 
weather does not permit planting when the 
bushes are received, take the bundle out of 
the paper and bury it, covering both tops 
and roots with soil. Do not drown the 
roses in water nor allow the packages to 
lie around and dry out if you expect good 
results. 
PLANTING 
If you want successful Roses, plant the bushes close together so 
that the foliage will keep the ground shaded and cool. Twelve to 
15 inches is the rule for the Hybrid Teas, the taller varieties being 
placed for the best effect. Colors in Roses seldom clash, although 
you will enjoy finding your favorite combinations. 
Instead of waiting until the bushes arrive, it is better, a couple 
of weeks in advance to spade the soil down 15 to 18 inches, adding 
plenty of manure, if it is available, and if drainage is needed, the 
bed should be tiled and surplus water carried away. Guard against 
the roots drying out from exposure to sun, wind or freezing during 
planting. Do not use chemical fertilizer when planting Wyant Roses; 
bonemeal and rotten manure only may be used at planting time. 
PRUNING 
When a Rose is set in the spring, shorten the strong branches to 
six or eight inches, and the weaker even more. Heap the soil as 
high as the branches are pruned, to protect against drying out, 
until the roots become established. Remove this bank of soil when 
the shoots start,, so that the bud, or crown, is about level with the 
soil surface. Cultivate the soil every week, especially after the rains. 
If you want long stems and large flowers, pick your blooms with 
long stems. For quantities of bloom, cut short stems and nip old 
blossoms after the petals fall. In cutting first blossoms from the 
big strong canes which have shot up from the base of the plant, 
leave enough of the stem to form the structure of a bush. Cut side 
oranches back to one or two leaves when cutting flowers. 
The only fall pruning recommended is shortening tall bushes, down 
to about two feet, so that they will not windwhip. The real prun^ 
ing for established bushes is given in the spring when the bank of 
soil is removed. At this time remove dead wood from the Hybrid 
Teas and cut the strong branches down to the highest big live bud. 
Shorten or remove weak growths. 
Hybrid Perpetuals can be shortened down about one-third and 
from climbers the dead wood should be removed. In July, after 
the first big burst of bloom is over, you may again prune climbers, 
but pruning is not recommended unless the plant is too large for 
MRS. FRANCIS KING 
(See page 22) 
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