PRUNING ROSES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2319, 11 August 1898, Page 8

PRUNING ROSES.

Tt should be remembered in pruning that it is not early growth which we want upon rose*, but breaks from healthy eyes, and these made sufficiently late to ensure a greater chance of quick growth, unchecked by the laic spring frosts which so often ruin early and promising now wood. With a view to making the present artiolo upon this important part of rose culture moro plain and simple, I have taken a lew rough sketches of typos of plants growing in ray garden, and which I shall prune upon the line" indicated in the illustrations. It does not matter whether it be hybrid perpetuals, teas, hybrid teas, or any other classes, our roses of similar growth to those described need much tho same treatment. Fig. 1 represents a two-year-old plant, of .* tea rose of an erect growing variety, which flowers freely from almost every shoot, and which may be chosen as a type of such us Anna Olivier, Catherine Mermet. Madame Lambard, and others of the similar habit. The shoots from the base, marked a. B, and C, are soft and pithy, although they carried good blooms lato in the season. From b to

Figure I.— Two-year old Tka Rose. 12 inches from tha base of these there is a sound eye or bud, and the wood will be cut back to this point. The remainder of the growth will bo cut back, as shown by the cross marks. Most of the wood above these marks is inclined to be soft, and will, under any circumstances, be cut back to a sound and well-ripened eye. Unless wo prune this class of rose rather hard wo get a succession of new growths from the top eye, which, on account of the ero-jt habit soon made a thin and pyramidal plant, instead of the desired bush of more compact form. We have much the same habit in Merveille de Lyon and Baroness Rothschild from among the hybrid perpetuals, although moro robust. Those varieties very seldom carry soft and unripened wood, but owing to the same erect habit, I would cut them back almost as hard as shown in the cut.

An old and fairly strong plant oE Comtesse de Nadaillao, Sunset. Perle dcs Jardins, Souvenir d'Elise "Vardon. and a few more will often produce a succession of stout shoots from the base, a" marked a, b, and o in fig. 1. Instead of cutting these clown so hard I would only prune back to the first sound eye. Nor should any well-matured wood of those be cut away except to thin out the growth where rather crowded and dense. Horace Vernet, Duchess of Bedford, Louis van Houtte, and similarly habited hybrid perpetuals grow in tho same erratic fashion in most gardens, and need the same style of pruning. It id a general rule to prune a rose hard if a weak grower, and very slightly when of extra vigorous habit, but in the few last instances I would leave almost all of the sound eyes. Fig. 2 is a plant of hybrid tea Caroline Testout, also two years old. Here we have a rose of entirely different habit, one which makes a succession of growths all through the season, and, although not so spreading as some, forms a much wider bush than in fig. 1. My plant is carrying the same shootrf as shown. The three portions of dead wnpd

will be cut back to a sound eye, and the remainder shortened and thinned according to the cross marks. This will result in a compact bush, which in all probability will bo twice its prebent size next autumn. Much of the wood cut away in this case will be thoroughly sound and ripe, but by pruning as illustrated wo get a better bush, flowers of better quality, and quite a,s many of them.

Thero are many varieties with a similar habit to Caroline Testout. Mrs Bo&anquei, Goubalt, Madame Faloot, Mabo.me .Vilermoz, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, Ro^i Mundi, Souvenir tie Paul Neyron, Mario van Eoutte, Franei-ea Krugor, and Alfred Colomb may De cited a* examples needing the same pruning. We also have i)upuy Jamain, OcneraJ Jacqueminot, Mi\s John Laing, Camille Hqvnardin. Charles Lefcbvre, Fisher Holmes, Maurice Bernardin, Princo Camille de llulian. and several other varieties which range between fig's. 2 and o as regards habit and \igour of growth.

l (1 if». 3 is a (.wo years-old Duke of Edinburgh. The cross linos show where to prune tin* it a bush plant is wanted; and the four dotted lines where it should bo pruned if in-

tondeel for pegging down, a 8 exemplified in fig. £. For this purpose fcho Jong sucker-like rocta, A, b, c, and D, wil! only be pruned back a few inches from the point, and then secured in a horizontal position, when they will flower from almost every well-ripened eye. The vigorous teas, hybrid teas, and hybrid perpetuals may be treated similarly, following one or other of these systems accord-

ing to whether a fairly weJj-sJiapecl bush or a lar?e quantity of flower* is needed. Those varieties named as between the types of figs. 2 and 3 should be pruned midway bolween the two illustrations. Fig. 4 represents a Madame Gabriel Luizet tbid wa? pegged down hist year. The foido shoots have flowered, and should be cut off at the cross marks. It generally happens that the wood upon these layered shoots is so ripe and sound that many are tempted to prune, such a.3 shown by the dotted lines (figs. .3 and 4). but if we do so we get ;•. le^s number of flowers, and these of inferior quality to what would be the case if the long shoots a, n, c, and J' were pegged down, and the older wood cut out entirely. There a-'-e

many of our \ery vigorous growing teas noisettes, hybrid perpetual?, and others which aivo a far better display when' pegged down in this way than grown as an ordinary bush. When these same varieties aro upon a wall or fence, it is better to save as much as possible of the longest and most- Mgorous growths, making room for these by cutting out older wood. . Standards of the same classc* or types ot roses need tho same style of pruning, the long rods in fig.'. 3 and 4 being allowed to droop with the weight of growth and blossoms. As a rulo the mosses, cabbage and Gallica roses are the best when pruned upon rather harder lines than recommended in fig. 1. -The •Scotch and Japanese briars, also the polyanthas, merely require the points of dead wood removed. Fig. 5 shows a rose planted in the autumn, one °of many thousands that will soon need pruning. The upper buds are elongating considerably, as is the case also with the older plants above referred to, though the advancing growths are not depicted. As a rule the longer in reason tb.ese basal buds remain dormant the b?\fer Vne growths which ; ssue from

them arc agaimt the accident of frott, and the earlier thepruning the sooner these buds are pushed into danger. That is why many cautions persons defer the pruning till March is well advanced, and then the stems of the young ro t- cs are cut down to the marks or lower, even at tho rHc of " bleeding," from which plants unchecked by frost soon seem to recover.

Ho far as the best time for pruning roses i* concerned quite as much depends upon the position as the season. In low and moist bituotionb we suffer from late spring frosts much more than upon a high and fairly dry soil. Nov do the plants in the Utter (^-e make such precocious growth as when in a warmer and more sheltered spot.

Make it a point to cut back to a sound eye, have this lacing away from the centre o ( the plant where possible, and cut the wood bauk close to tho> terminal eye or bud.

The rambling roses, such a.s Ayrshm-s, Boimaults, evergreens, and hybrids of similar growth, merely need some of the older wood thinned out and last year's ihoots left their entire length.

Practice.

Take a clay off Thursday. Eat turkey give thanks. Road in a newspaper that a consumptive cough would be tftopped by taking Woods'* Great Peppermint Uuro. Took it on and dropped the consumptive cough — cost Is 6d. That's worth a holiday, and turkey's the festival feed where I coma from*