THE CULTURE OF ROSES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 10

THE CULTURE OF ROSES.

The following is the second and concluding portion of Mr Clarke's paper on rose culture, read before the Dunedin Horticultural Society : —

BUDDING

This operation, which is the usual method, and the best for propagating the rose in the open air, is, like nearly everything 1 else, very easy when you know how to do it. There is not tho least doubt either that the best way to learn is to watch somebody else at work wno . can. But many persons have not the' opportunity of doing this, and to these I shall endeavour to explain as well as I possibly* can. Before, however, you can bud you must have the stocks, and these will require to have been planted at an earlier date, so that they are well rooted, and in the proper season .be in that flourishing condition at the time we wish to bud them. All I need to say about the time of putting in those cuttings is they may be got in any time from April to August, but I very much prefer the earlier date. Budding, | then, may be performed at any time when ] the sap Is running, which generally occurs from January to March, but I prefer the earlier date as. giving the buds an opportunity to get thoroughly ripened and hard before the cold weather sets in. In cases where pushing buds are inserted they start away at once, and make sufficient growth ] to bcome hardened and ripe before winter. There is always a danger down in this part of the country of buds that have just started into growth being dteetroyed by a severe winter. Not so with our neighbours in the North Island. In. Auckland they can bud six months out of the 12. Now the condition of the bud must be carefully studied — that is, it is no use putting on buds that are flat, undeveloped, and scarcely visible, but choose those of a nice plump appearance. Now the implements necessary for the operations consist only of a good sharp budding knife with an ■ edge on it like a razor, some xaphia or worsted, and some labels and a wet piece of sacking to keep your buds in after you have cut them off, as it is vfery necessary they be kept moist or they may spoil with the hot sun. Now, all tilings being ready, we proceed by taking a nice haifripe shoot. Some will say, " What is a half-ripe shoot? " That is just the point where many amateurs fail, or I should say beginners fail. In the first place you have to rub the thorns off. When by rubbing them sideways with the thumb and finger they come away freely without injuring the bark they are then in good condition. Soft thorns will not come away without injuring or pulling away a portion of bark with them. Then in an over-ripe shoot again we shall find when rubbing them off that they leave a brown mark or sear — they are too old. Having got the shoot with the buds you require on it, remove all the leaves at once, then take the knife. Holding the twig between *£he thumb and finger enter the knife about a, half-inch above the eye, cutting downwards to the same distance below. Do not out quite through, but give the blade a twist upwards ; catching hold of the bud with the thumb and 1 finger give it a sharp pull backward or toward you, and it will bring away c long strip of the bark. Turn the bud over into the left hand, pull down the strip v a little, and the woody part will stick out. Catch hold of this between the thumb and blade of the knife, and with a sharp jerk drag away the wood from the bud, and after this has been taken away, if the bud >'s in a rigiht condition, there will appear inthe centre a little speck like a grain of sand. If this has all come away you must proceed again. The next thing is to cut the tail of the bud, then make a cut up the stock about an inch and a-half long, then a crosscut the shape of a T, then turn the knife and insert the flat handle of the knife, and run it up and down on both sides. Then holding the bud with the thumb and finger by the leaf stalk gently insert the end of it under the Dark, and push it home at the same time. Now get a strip of raphia or worsted, and bind it nice and firm, but not too tight so that it will be able to expand. The place to insert the bud is as near rre ground as possible.

PRUNING

Why we prune is to maintain the strength and 1 vigour and preserve the shape of the plant. Some will say, why not let our plants grow at will? The answer to that will bo in watching tho natural growth of the rose that is an unpruned one, either wild or cultivated ; you will notice that tho strong shoots will flower well perhaps the first year, the second year the growth will bs found much weaker, but you will often find an extra strong shoot pxish up to tho detriment of the rest of the bush ; consequently some branches are made -weaker and weaker, until the bush or tree be comss a leggy, unshapely object. This ie the principal reason that pruning is necessary. Then, again, you cannot get the colour in your roses, nor can you get ro&es except with a few of the tea rosjs fit for or largo enough for exhibition. Pruning, then, you see, is necessary to maintain the shape and regulate the growth throughout the plant, and to give xnoro vigour, colour, and substance to the bloom. Owing to the natural habit of growth • considerable amount of wood must Le eit away each year to prevent the slioots becoming uneven and robbing each other. The tools required for tins purpose are a goo<l knife, an oil stone, a pair of pruners, and when among old trees a small pointed pruning saw will be found very u-eful for cutting out old Laid thick pieces of wooer that would be a hard job for the km ! e to cut. Now there is long pruning, short pruning, and medium pruning.

In pruning climbers there is r.ot mi ih to be said on this point, us all 1 'l.ii is necessary is to cut ail the old wood away and replace it with the young iijjo prowl h, tied in about 6in to 9in apart, ,=o that tat-Ii shoot gets its equal amount of light. If this is not done a tangled mass of old branches growing thickly in all directions so that the sun and air oannot ripen the wood will result, and instead of a glorious macs of bloom, a poor scanty show , will ■be all you will get. Long pruning is applicable to all kinds of roses that make long shoots of which grow vigorously, say, for instance, Madame Isaac Perrier, Her Majesty, Frau Karl Drusoaki, ard all such other strong vigorous growers. Of th-eso kJn>d it is advisaW-e t-o prime back to about 9in or lOin ;n; n lenj'h. and to cut always to an outside eye and remove some growths alrojether — that is, tv cut then

right out at the base of the plan*. For young plants it is not advisa Je to leave more than about four shoots on a plant.

— Short Pruning. —

Nearly all roses may be j ruitod 1 bard back except a few, as I rave sa d, of tie more vigoious kinds, and if gco»J fjxh.bifcion roses are required it is necessary that they be iiard pruned, in the fir»t place thin out all the weakly growths, then select the best, young, well-ripened " shoots. Then you will have to prune according to strength and variety. The weakly shewing sorts prune .back to about fche second or third eye. In the case of a young strong 1 growth coming up and in <s rignt placeprune it to about 6in in len.^tn, but if it grows right across the cferc.ee of the pla-vt you must harden your heart end cut it right away. To keep a bush jn pn.per condition and of a good shape you must always select those shoots that are pointing outwards, and out away cross pieces, and for first-class blooms six or eight slioots will be enough to leave. Some may wish to have a lot of flower in preference to individual blooms of greater size and vigour. This is a very easy matter, and is only a question of leaving more buds on the plant to grow and produce more blooms, and in the case of dwarfs their growths can be pegged down near the ground, and by thie means a good mass of bloom will be the result. But if these long 1 growths go straight up, and they are_ left in that position; they will only, break" at the top, and a very unsightly plant will be the result.

— Time of Pruning. —

I myself always prune about the middle to the end of July, just after the severe frost has passed, or a fortnight later if the weather be severe, but in other districts it may be necessary to prune later if the blooms are required for a certain date, say for our show in December.

MANURES.

There are three kinds — vegetable, animal, and mineral. Vegetable manure consists of cabbage leaves, potato tops, grass clippings, and such stuff collected and rotted. But the most valuable form of manure, and that most used, is good well-rotted stable and cow manure, the latter being preferable in light sandy soil, but good old horse manure for heavy clayey soil. The farmyard! or stable manure may be used with advantage, as a mulching on dry ground, but if the ground be of a stiff nature I prefer digging some in veT.y shallow—that is, just under the surface. This must be done very carefully, or it is better left alone. No good, but injury, will be done to the plants if manure is dug right in among their roots. Liquid manure is prepared by putting in a bag or coarse sack some sheep and cow manure. Tie the mouth of the sack and' put it in a barrel of water, and it will be ready for use in 24 hours. This poured on once a week, after a rain if possible, will be found very beneficial just as they are showing their buds.

— Artificial Manures. —

For some years back I have used artificial manures, and found them very beneficial just after my pruning and cleaning up and digging has beem finished and the roses have begun to make a start. I nave given them a dressing- of a mixture used by a good many of- the big ro©e-growers at Home, and recommended by Mr Tonks, one of the best aradysts in Britain, and also by the National Rose Society. It consists of: Superphosphates of lime, 12 parts; nitrate of potash, 10 parts; sulphate of magnesia, 2 parts; sulphate of iron, 1 part; sulphate of lime, 8 parts. This applied at the rate of a 4in pot full to 6ft square of ground early in the spuing, as I have suggested, will, I am sure, be found very beneficial to the plants. Soot water is also good. A second dusting over with the mixture just as the roses have formed their buds is of great assistance to them, or failing that one tablespoonful of sulphate of ammonia and one of nitrate of soda in 4gal of weak liquid manure, this to be always given when the ground is moist or after rain.

DISBUDDING

Thia term is applied to two distinct operations. One, the removal of wood buds, which if allowed to remain would in time develop into shoots or branches, aii<l the other to the pinching off of the surplus flowers while they are yet in a very young state. In the case of wood bude which afterward-, become branches, it is quite possible, indeed it often happens, that a lot more shoots break out than it would be wise to leave on the plant. These, then, should be removed, selecting first the beat shoots and the right number desired, and always those that point outwards, then rub off all the rest. Finer and better quality blooms, will b© the result than if all shoots are allowed to grow. Now as to pinching off the superfluous flowers, many roses produce quite a number of flower buds in a cluster at the extremity of each shoot. These bude should be all pinched off except the centre or crown bud. This should be done as soon as you can get hold of them with the thumb and finger. Naturally if these were all allowed to flower you would get a larger cluster, but of very poor quality. Of course this disbudding does not apply in the case of ramblei or cluster roses. There are on the other hand many varieties of roses that do not show bunches of buds, but one flower bud at the extremity of the shoots. Naturally these do not require disbudding.

ROSE PESTS

A great deal could be said on the peste which trouble our roses, but I fear I am wearying you, so I will just give you a few remedies. Mildew is a great trouble to those roaes that are planted in damp, shady, and at the same time draughty places, and when it does appear prompt action is necessary. Very rarely does it get the upper band in places where the rotes are well exposed to light and fresh air. For mildew use a mixture of eoftsoap and sulphur in hot water, put on with a fine syringe. One large taiblespoonful of softsoap and two of sulphur weJJ mixed in a bucket of hot water is a gocd remedy ; ioz 6ulphide of potassium to Igal of cold water is used by the leading rose-growers at Home.

Green fly is a great nuisance at some periods of the season, but, fortunately, they can be easily killed and got rid of by a gocd application of softsoap and hot water — the earne as for mildew with the exception of tH-e STalplixu-. Or you oao syringe with tobacco water or a solution of quassia chips. It is easily made by boiling the chips in water. This makes it so bitter

that .the flies will not stop on them. This should also be used "cold.

In conclusion, I may not have made this as comprehensive as it should be, but I am very much afraid of wearying you ; but let me say to my hearers and readers that where our highest aim in rose-growing is simply the winning of prizes we can never hope to derive the full benefits of our occupation. Let us if we .will cultivate roses grow them for the love we have for them, then we shall be able to look Nature in the face and admire and look upon some of the loveliest objects' of her creation.

The following 18 good roses were recommended by Mr Clarke: — Dark Reds — Duke of Wellington, h.p. ; Liberty, h.t. ; Jubilee,' h.p. ; Mrs Lippiat, h.p. Whites — Traa Karl Drusohki, h.p. ; Mrs David M'Kee, h.t.'; , White Maraan •Cochet, t. Yellowß^Madame Ravary, h.t. ; Instituteur Serdey, . h.t. ; Le Progress, h.t. ; Medea, t. Pinks — Lady Ashtown, Dorothy Page Roberts, Caroline Testout, h.t. Other Shades — Lyon Rose, h.t. ; Dean Hole, h.t. ; Betty, h.t. ; Merquie Lita, h.t. Climbers— Dorothy Perkins,. Hiawatha, Crimson, Rambler, White Rambler.