8. THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
they are upon the leaves, pick up snails 
and put in salt water; this quickly de- 
stroys them, as neither snail or slug can 
stand salt. Old, rusty and diseased 
foliage should be cut off, giving flower buds 
an opportunity to form and the plants a 
chance to make a _ vigorous new leaf 
growth. 
GROWING ROSES IN SOUTHERN 
CALIFORNIA. 
By L. H. Batey. 
In many localities in Southern Ualifor- 
nia the Queen of Flowers attains a perfec- 
tion probably found nowhere else. That 
this perfection is not general is partially 
owing to adverse conditions, such as great 
range of temperature during each cvwenty- 
four hours, heavy fogs at critical periods, 
&c., but as a rule failure in whole or part 
is due to the lack of intelligent treatment. 
The chief obstacle to successful culture is 
the attempt to produce blooms every day 
of the year. Though quite an impossibility 
with any rose, the evil is still persisted in 
by 99 in every hundred  possessors 
of a garden. While Roses are grown in 
great profusion in Los Angelos, few, if any, 
do as well here as in Pasadena, which, 
though but nine miles distant, has the ad- 
vantage of being several hundred. feet 
higher than Los Angelos, and, therefore, 
less subject to fog or great range in daily 
temperature. In some places a certain 
few Roses will produce an astonishingly 
fine crop of bloom, when but a mile or two 
distant, with no change of soil, and very 
slight difference in altitude, they will be 
utterly worthless; though a like number 
of other varieties will give as good returns 
as those first mentioned. Consequently 
the common enquiry at a nursery as to 
“What are the best dozen Roses I can 
grow?’ is usually met by the equally per- 
tinent query, “In what part of the city do 
you live?” 
- Many Roses do fairly well everywhere, 
and among these, Duchessede Brabant more 
nearly produces a continuous crop of blos- 
soms than any other. For this reason 
it stands in a class by itself, and is not 
considered in the appended list of the best 
dozen Roses for Southern California; 
though every one should grow at least one 
bush of this variety. Along with the 
Duchesse might well be placed the Poly- 
antha, Madame Cecil Brunner; and the 
climbers, Cherokee, Banksia, Ophire (or 
Gold of Ophir), Beauty of Glazenwood or 
Fortune’s Double Yellow. All these pro- 
duce most wonderful crops, but none more 
so that the last mentioned, which, in favor- 
‘ed regions produces a wealth of flowers 
simply dazzling to behold. 3 
All the Roses named thus far are worthy 
of a place in any garden. One of the chief 
causes of failure by the average amateur 19 
the lack of an intelligent knowledge of the 
plant’s first requirement — recurring 
periods of absolute rest.. The necessary 
resting periods are best obtained by with- 
holding the water supply. Most amateurs, 
and a majority of self-styled “gardeners,” 
persist, against all rules of common sense, 
in planting Roses either in the lawn or in 
mixed borders with other plants. In 
either case all but the Roses require a con- 
stant watering. Having planted in this 
fashion, the grower has cast away all 
chances of first-class results. | Rose beds 
should never be made a feature in lands- 
cape gardening, as the plants when dor- 
mant and judiciously pruned are unsightly 
objects at best. The most obscure spot 
obtainable with the proper exposure is the 
place to grow flowers. To obtain the best 
results the Rose requires the same amount 
of rest here that it obtains where the win- 
ter season leaves the grower no alterna- 
tive. 
Our dry summer air isa serious drawback 
to the growth of many Roses, there being 
few places where Moss Roses thrive, and 
these must be grown in whole or partial 
shade. Niphetos and Marechal Niel are 
good examples of Roses requiring partial 
shade if good results are desired. Many 
localities cannot grow the two last men- 
tioned, or such as Perle des Jardins, 
Meteor, Catherine Mermet, Francisco 
Kruger, Reine Marie, Henriette and many 
others, on account of mildew. Even among 
varieties whose buds are immune, it is often 
impossible to get foliage unaffected. In- 
judicious watering is more largely to blame 
for these unfavorable conditions than any 
other agency. Laurette is a Rose which 
often produces the only perfect flowers to 
be found among a hundred varieties, and 
this is particularly the case in places visit- 
ed by heavy frosts. Laurette seemingly 
goes unscathed, while all others are more 
or less blasted. The great Rose of the 
Eastern United States, American Beauty, 
is almost a complete failure here, and is 
not worth growing except in a very few 
well-favored gardens, and even there is far 
from being perfect. 
Roses are usually propagated from hard- 
wood cuttings, grown out of doors, and De- 
cember is the best month, though the . 
writer. has successfully rooted them from 
October to March, according to the variety. 
La France for many years was the lead- 
ing Rose in California, but is now rapidly 
becoming a thing of the past, though it can 
never be entirely banished, for it is still, 
in a few gardens, the queen of the family. 
Its involuntary retirement from our gar- 
dens is due entirely to a “die back’ (an- 
thracnose), which affects many other 
- plants than the Rose, but seems to have 
a special liking for La France. Thus far 
no cure has been found. 
’ Below will be found a list of the best 
dozen bush, and half dozen climbing Roses 
for Southern California, ‘compiled from 
lists furnished the writer by the six best 
nurserymen and growers in Los Angelos. 
An, increasing demand for Maman Cochet 
is quite marked, and the few White Maman 
Cochet, yet grown here seems to mark it 
ad the coming white Rose for this section. 
Among the climbers, the same may prove 
true of the Climbing Kaiserin Augusta 
Victoria, which bids fair to become as popu- 
lar as the bush Rose of the same name. 
October I, 1904 ~~ 
The following lists place the varieties 
in the order of their desirability for either 
florist or fancier, when grown out of doors 
—Bush Roses: Marie Van Houtte, Ma- 
dame Lambard, Maman Cochet, Papa Gon- 
tier, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, Laurette, 
The Bride, Catherine Mermet, Meteor, 
Perle des Jardins, Caroline Testout, Eliza 
Suavage. Climbers: Lamarque, Marechal 
Niel, Climbing Souvenir de Wooton, Reve 
d@Or, Reine Marie Henriette, Gloire de 
Dijon. 
This list will be found the best for Low 
Angelos and vicinity generally; the inte 
ligent nurseryman or the purchaser (if a 
student of the Rose) should be able te 
make the slight changes rendered neces- 
sary by peculiar local conditions— 
Ernest BRAUNTON. 
The above article fails to state the best 
time of the year in which to rest the plants. 
I have a plat twelve feet by ninety feet, 
away from any other vegetation, Roses 
being the only crop. Though planted out 
but one year, the water supply was cut. 
off June 20, and they will receive no more 
until November 1. Young as they are, 
not one plant yet shows the need of mois- 
ture. These bushes will be pruned heavily 
about October 15, cutting out all wood 
smaller than a lead pencil and cutting back 
three-quarters of the large wood. Owing 
to the small amount of wood left, the 
bushes will, in from ten to fifteen days, 
start to leaf out, and as soon as the first 
leaf unfolds they should be well irrigated, 
this to be followed by another one a weelk 
later, and so on to the end of the blooming 
season. The same treatment should be 
accorded the climbing Roses, though, of 
course, they must not be pruned down te 
the same height as the bush varieties; 
still, unless the growth is needed to cover 
an arbor or some unsightly object, the 
climbers should be pruned more severely, 
in proportion to their size. . 
DISBUDDING CLIMBING PLANTS. 
Do we pay as much attention to thie 
matter as it deserves? I think not. While 
the summer shoots are growing we are 
generally engrossed in other work. But if 
a few hours were devoted to the pinching 
out of superfluous growths of Roses, Honey- 
suckles, Jasminums, Azaras, Escallonias, 
and similar plants, better results would fol- 
low than if winter pruning were depended 
upon solely. 
No matter how well the plants are 
thinned out and cut back in wiater and 
spring, there are many shoots which possess 
more buds—whbich grow eventually—than 
there is space for their proper accommoda- 
tion. The result is a very untidy tangle, 
Giant effort is made fo train the climbers 
and make them look well cared for, but the 
success is not an unqualified one. 
We prune a vine and a peach, but the 
rods and trees have to undergo a process of 
pinching which gives a better shape, pre- 
vents undue crowding, and enables a full 
crop of luscious fruit to ripen. Climbing 
plants so treated make stronger shoots aud 
develop finer blossoms than they could pos- 
