
7 
a mulch or if you prefer liquid cow manure diluted until it is the color of strong tea may be applied 
about one cupful to a bush twice a month until September Ist. 
WATERING—Soak your bed well about every ten days but spray your plants about twice a week 
with as much force as possible with a nozzle on the hose. This helps control insects and keeps the 
wood soft enough to grow. It is necessary that this be done early in the morning so that the plants 
will not be wet over night. 
CULTIVATION—Stir the soil frequently, but do not cultivate deeper than 2 to 3 inches as the 
fine feeding roots must not be disturbed. 
PRUNING— The blooms must be cut off so as to induce new, strong shoots. The best shoots that 
make long-stemmed Roses come from the lowest 6 inches of the bush. Do not cut your blooms low 
after September Ist, as the new growth thereafter will be too soft to live over the winter. 
WINTER PROTECTION—Before the ground freezes, the soil should be drawn up to the base 
of the plant in a mound 7 to 8 inches high. In extremely cold climates, as in Maine and Canada, even 
as high as 12 inches is not too much. In this case it is advisable to add extra soil. After the ground 
has frozen, cover the entire bed with straw or dry leaves, placing evergreen boughs on the top to pre- 
vent the leaves blowing away. Do not uncover too early, as the Spring sun and winds cause great 
damage. When so protected, even the most tender varieties of Hybrid Tea Roses are entirely hardy. 
Standard or Tree Roses must be carefully protected. After removing the soil from the side of the 
roots, bend the tree down, so as to place it in an improvised trench; then cover it with a heavy layer 
of soil. 
After several heavy frosts have checked the growth of the plants usually the latter part of November, 
the Hybrid Teas, or Monthly Roses, should be pruned to a height of one and one-half feet from the 
ground; this will prevent the Winter winds from swaying the plants and consequently injuring the 
roots. Complete pruning should not be done until Spring about April 15th—after all danger of frosts 
has passed; then remove about one-half the mulch and two weeks later the balance. (In the South, 
little or no Winter protection is needed for either bush or climbing roses.) 
About the time they are uncovered, cut off all dead wood and prune the live wood within a few inches 
of the ground for a few exhibition flowers and eight to twelve inches for a quantity of good flowers. 
Always cut to an out-pointing eye. 
Naturally, with Hardy Climbing Roses, which are attached to supports, it is only necessary to cut out 
dead wood and to keep them thinned out and within bounds. It is well to remember that the long new 
canes will be the blooming wood in the succeeding Spring. 
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