June 1, 1905 
must know the tendency of all flowering 
plants. It is a backward one, which makes 
for the savage state which the plant knew 
before it, or its parents, were taken in 
hand by the men who guided the growings 
on. brighter and better lines. The wildness 
of the wilderness is that which the average 
rose plant is making for. Left too long 
without a pruning, it will get one step 
nearer to the ideal which it has set itself 
sooner or later to gain. 
It is only under the guidance of man’s 
hand that any gain or advance is made. 
Pruning, then, is, as you will perhaps now 
be willing to admit, a very important ope- 
ration in the culture of the rose. 
Tf you ejre still of a contrary opinion, try 
the matter for yourself. Neglect your cham- 
pions for five or six seasons, and you will 
soon discover the drift they are, making 
on their own account. By the time you 
have made the discovery, your roses will 
probably have lost a little of their charac- 
ter, and you, too, will have gone somewhat 
behind. 
Our third reason is that pruning keeps 
the plants free of all the weak and 
decayed wood. This matter is so plain 
that it needs no explaining. Thin pieces 
of wood, such as frequently grow in the 
centre of the bushes, should be cut out at 
every opportunity. They do no good, and 
only rob the plants of so much life that 
might be put to a better purpose. Cut them 
out, and cut the dead pieces with them. 
There is one thing which the rose pruner 
should always keep well in mind—to cut 
to an outward eye. Lead the new growths 
outward. They look better, and there is 
no danger of the one rose rubbing against 
another. ‘Roses that are allowed to rub 
are, as a rule, not worth cutting. 
Refer to our last number for the illus- 
tration which explains what an eye is- 
Wuat to Use In PRunine. 
One frequently hears a question asked 
in reference to the proper pruning instru- 
ment. Which is the better, a pair of secar 
teurs or a knife? Everything depends on 
the one who is pruning. If you know how 
to uso either, you can take ‘your choice. 
Generally speaking, we like the secateurs 
best. In the hands of a lady who is 
beginning her pruning, a knife is not a very 
nice instrument to handle. One is so apt 
to tear one’s hands on the thorns in 
making the cuts. In cutting an outside 
shoot there is no difficulty; it is when one 
comes to work right in the centre of an 
old bush that the difficulty is made plain. 
Old shoots take some cutting, and old thorns 
tear very nastily. Leave the knife for the 
days when you feel that ‘you are no longer 
a novice. Many people will tell you that 
nothing but a knife, shonld ever be used. 
“Circumstances,” as you know, “often alter 
cages.” Still, there are some positions 
in which even an expert would hesitate to 
use anything but a pair of pruning shears. 
One of the contentions of those who ad- 
vocate the knife is that using the shears, 
pinches, bruises, and injures the bark of 
the rose. There is no doubt that it does— 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
when the shears are not used, in! the proper 
way. 
With a sharp: pair of secateurs in hands 
of a man or woman who knows how’ to use 
them, there is no injury and no pinching. 
Injury only follows when the secateurs are 
not used in the correct way. 
“Which is the correct way?” some 
asks, 
Let us see if we can explain this, so as 
to make ourselves understood. Bring your 
secateurs. It is easier to make an. expla- 
nation when the tool is handy. Take 
them in your right hand. What we have 
to say only has to: do with the sets with a 
single blade. The double-cutters are 
above suspicion, and can only be used: in 
one way—the right way. UHawing taken 
the instrument in the right hand, let it 
spring open. This will show you that 
one (the lower) handle, carries the cutting 
blade, and the top handle the part against 
which the blade makes the cut. 
So as to avoid mistakes, we ask you to 
take a further look at the blade, the left 
side of which is quite flat, and the right 
side ground off to an edge. Itis this right, 
or ground. edge, that should lay next to the 
rose eye when you are cutting. Be quite 
certain that you have laid hold of. our 
meaning, for on this lies all the rights and 
wrongs of rose pruning. The ground edge 
is the cutting side, the other one is the 
cutting face, intended to be kept away 
from the eye. If you use the ground edge 
you cut to within a hair’s-breadth of the 
eye; reverse the cutters, and you cannot 
get within a quarter of an inch of the 
point at which you wish to make the cut. 
It is on that quarter of an inch that 
one 
the bruise is made when the secateurs are 
not properly handled. It will take you a 
little time to get into the way of making 
the cut in the right way, but when you 
‘have mastered it, you will admit that 
there is a lot to be said in its favor. 
Here is another explanation, that might 
simplify matters. When cutting a shoot 
that comes out towards your right hand, 
you cannot, if the cutters are held correctly, 
do anything but cut properly. The ground 
side of the blade must lay properly; it is 
when you are cutting a shoot that comes 
towards your left hand that you are apt 
to cut badly. To get over the difficulty, 
twist your wrist, so as to bring the handle 
on which your fingers are laying up to the © 
top. Make the cut with the secateurs in 
this position, and you will never go wrong. 
Turning the wrist brings the ground side 
of the blade right against the eye of the 
rose. 
WHEN TO PRUNE. 
A. lot depends on the weather, and a 
lot more on the situation of the rose gar- © 
den. <A. very safe rule to follow is to 
prune when tyou think you are not likely 
to have any more: frosts. , 
Could you be sure that the weather is 
not likely to change, there would be no 
trouble in fixing the time. But you know 
little or nothing about the weather which 
lies a week ahead, Toi a certain extent 
“aq 
you must take a risk and prune according 
to your own fancies. lf you haye no 
“fancies,” set about getting some.. If you 
are a suburban resident anywhere near the 
water, the second week in July will be 
about the right time to begin the rose 
pruning. If you are on the highlands of 
‘the Milson’s Point line or in any of the 
Bastern suburbs, the last week in July or 
tho first in August, will be in plenty of 
time. Should you be living on the Moun- 
tains, the middle of August, or nearer the 
end of it, should come in sight before you 
begin. If you aer not in either of thes: 
places, set about hunting up a rose-grower 
in your district, asking him the time he 
begins his work. This is the safest plan. 
It might be possible for us to sit down and 
say that pruning in such and such a dis- 
trict should be done at a certain time. 
Possible, or not possible, it would not be a 
very good plan. The time to prune will 
vany with the season, and vary very much ; 
‘so for this reason we think it best for you. to 
ask a local grower whom you know! has 
‘made a success of growing his flowers. 
“The Amateur Gardener.” 
CARNATIONS 
WHY ARE CARNATION GROWERS 
MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN ROSE 
‘GROWERS IN AMERICA? 
I believe that, as a class, the carnation 
growers are more liberal, more energetic 
and determined to push their flower to the 
front than are the rose growers. Again, 
the rose grower has had the advantage of 
having a certain amount of self-conceit 
owing to the fact that the popularity of the 
r6s2 has been of long standing, while the 
carnation grower knew that in order to get 
a standing he’ had to get out and hustle 
and make things ring. Again, the rose 
grower is working under an average tem- 
perature ten degrees higher than is the car- 
nation grower. Now you know that inha- 
-pitants of tropical climates are much) less 
energetic than those of temperate climates. 
The temperature of the carnation house 
approximates a temperate. climate, while 
the temperature of the rosehouse approxi- 
mates the tropical climate; consequently, 
I consider the rose grower a tropical inha- 
bitant and the carnation grower a temper- 
ate one. : - 3 Bi pee 
Again, the carnation grower has the ad- 
vantage of having ai better following than! 
has the rose grower when. you consider: it 
from one point of view, and-that is, that it 
? u' ny ; ey eek 
_is more plastic under the hybridiser’s man- 
agement, and it is much: easier, toi produce 
‘new varieties of carnations than -it. is to 
produce new varieties of roses... ++ +. 
Again, the facility with which the genc- 
ral public has accepted the improvement 
in the carnation, and the promptness with 
which it has awarded. the efforts of-the car- 
nation hybridiser has acted as a strong sti- 
mulus to the carnation men throughout 
the country, and infused, into them! a de- 
gree of energy and progressive spirit that 
has carried them on enthusiastically in 
