Part 2 (1/2)

=Hybrid Chinas=, such as _Charles Lawson_, _Coupe d'Hebe_ and _Madame Plantier_, should be grown as bushy pillars, leaving the shoots six feet long. Shorten the laterals on old wood to three or four eyes. _Blairii No. 2_ should hardly be touched.

=Sweet Briars.=--Cut out all weak wood and cut old and naked shoots down to the ground. The Common Sweet Briar should be grown about four feet high. The Penzance Briars make enormous base shoots, which may be shortened to ten feet or less according to one's requirements, and some of the strong laterals of last year shortened back. _Lord_ and _Lady Penzance_, from their Austrian briar blood, are much less vigorous, and need far less pruning, only cutting out dead wood. When the Penzance and Common Sweet Briars are grown as hedges, the base is apt to get bare, and some of the long shoots must be laid down to keep it clothed, while the rest are pruned much shorter.

=Hybrid Bourbons.=--Prune the laterals lightly, and leave the best of the base shoots.

=Hybrid Noisettes= and =Musks=.--Thin out old wood and tie in young shoots.

=Austrian Briars.=--Only cut out dead wood. _Soleil d'Or_, a hybrid, flowers on the young wood, and the shoots may be pruned back to two feet.

=Scotch Briars.=--No pruning is needed, except cutting out old and dead wood and shortening back some of the numerous suckers.

=Climbing Multifloras= need little pruning. When grown as pillars or on screens they are apt to get bare at the base. Therefore it is well to cut some of the weaker young shoots back to two or three feet to clothe the base, leaving the strong ones their full length. With _Crimson Rambler_ and its cla.s.s, cut out some of the old wood to make room for the young shoots and shorten any weak laterals: but leave most of the strong ones intact, and do not touch the long base shoots of the last year.

=Wichuraianas.=--Only cut out old and dead wood. I have seen a beautiful effect produced with _Dorothy Perkins_ by cutting out _all_ the old wood in the autumn, and training the long young shoots over wire frames two-and-a-half feet wide, forming low arches about a yard from the ground in the centre. The ma.s.s of flower shoots standing erect on these frames makes a most strikingly beautiful object. The Wichuraianas also form very lovely weeping standards on eight-feet stems. And for tall pillars and fountain roses they are unequalled.

=Chinas.=--The old _Blush_ and _Cramoisie Superieure_ should only be thinned. The newer kinds, such as _Mme. Eugene Resal_, _Laurette Messimy_, etc., may be cut back to a few eyes from the ground.

=Bourbons.=--Prune lightly, growing as bold bushes or standards; except _Hermosa_, which may be pruned back to form a dwarf, spreading, two-feet bush; while _Mrs. Bosanquet_ is treated like the Chinas.

=Noisettes= are of two types. The strong growers need hardly any pruning, except _Marechal Niel_, which must have all cankered and weak shoots removed after it has flowered. _Lamarque_, _Fortune's Yellow_ (which must not be pruned at all), and _Jaune Desprez_ need a wall; and _Celine Forestier_ prefers one.

The other type, such as _L'Ideal_ and _William Allen Richardson_, may be pruned fairly close, by cutting back the laterals to a few eyes. All Noisettes bear their flowers on the laterals; therefore these should be preserved as much as possible.

=Dijon Teas.=--These are the climbing and vigorous _Gloire de Dijon_ and its descendants and allies, such as _Belle Lyonnaise_, _Francois Crousse_, _d.u.c.h.esse d'Auerstadt_, _Mme. Berard_, etc. They are all apt to get bare below. Therefore, while some of the strong shoots from the base are left almost their full length, others must be cut back, some to two or three feet, others to four or five feet, in order to keep the whole surface of the wall, arch, or pillar clothed evenly. The laterals may be pruned on the same plan. Old worn out wood should be occasionally cut down to the base to make it start afresh, when the first flowering is over.

=Banksia Roses.=--These need no pruning except in the case of a very old plant, when a shoot that shows weakness may be cut down to the base in April. But I have pointed out in Chapter IV that the Banksias bear their flowers on the sub-laterals of the third year. Therefore, for three years they must not be touched with the knife, and the shoots merely tied in evenly over the surface of the wall.

=Dwarf Polyanthas.=--These only need to have the old flower stems cut out in March.

=Hybrid Perpetuals= and =Hybrid Teas=, dwarf and standard.--If pruned for garden purposes or what I call enjoyment, not for exhibition, all dead wood and weak or unripe shoots must be cut out to the base of the plant. The centre of the plant must be kept clear by removing shoots which cross each other. The strong ripe shoots from the base should be cut back to about twelve inches, and the laterals on the old wood cut back to about four to six eyes. This is merely a general guide to the pruning of these two kinds of roses. But the rosarian, as I have said, will have to study the peculiarities of each individual plant, and to adapt these instructions to its needs, leaving more shoots on the stronger roses, and keeping them longer than on the weak-growing varieties.

=Teas= and =Noisettes=, both dwarf and standard, are pruned on exactly the same lines as the _Hybrid Teas_ and _Hybrid Perpetuals_, but must be pruned in April instead of March.

PROPAGATING ROSES.

The three chief methods of propagating roses are by--

1. Budding on the briar stock.

2. Cuttings.

3. Layering.

=Budding.=--This is the best-known method of propagating. And it is so widely practised by amateurs and gardeners of all degree, that it is better to get an object-lesson in the art than to depend on written instructions. With a little practise any one with neat fingers can bud.

But great care must be taken in the operation, not to bruise the bark of the bud or ”s.h.i.+eld” that is to be inserted in the stock.

The best stocks, whether for dwarfs or standards, are those of the wild Dog Rose from woods and hedgerows. These should be taken up in October and November, care being taken that each stock has fair roots, that the roots are not torn or bruised, and that they are not dry and shrivelled when planted. In fact, they ought to be treated with just the same care we bestow on our new roses when we plant them out. The stocks may be at once shortened, to about three feet for half-standards, and very strong ones for specimen or weeping roses may be kept six and eight feet long.

But in shortening both, they must always be cut just above a bud. In the following summer these stocks will have thrown out side-shoots; and it is in these that the buds are to be inserted. We can tell when ”the bark will run,” _i.e._ that it is ready for budding, by trying whether the thorns break off clean when pushed by the thumb. If the thorn bends and does not leave the bark, the wood is not ripe enough. If the thorn sticks tight to the wood, and yet is brittle, the wood is too ripe.