Victor Verdier, or the peculiar red of the crowded thorns of Alfred K. Williams, or the short-jointed growth and reddish bronze foliage of Victor Hugo, will be surer guides in naming these varieties than looking at the bloom. All three are dark red roses, and, although distinct in form when in perfection, may have from various causes lost their colour.

From these few remarks it will be seen (1) that each variety should be known. Pruning and budding cannot be correctly carried out without it; (2) that roses may be labelled, but the label, except in the case of standards, should not be attached to the plant; (3) that the only sure method of preserving the name is to record it in a book.

VII. PROTECTION

In a previous chapter it was noted that the majority of hybrids of Teas and Perpetuals were derived from two main sources, R. damascena and R. indica. Those roses in which the strain of damascena preponderates are more or less hardy, and will, when well ripened, withstand the cold of winter. On the other hand, those roses derived principally from indica are more or less tender. And it may be noted, by the way, that when we find a certain variety of the Tea section seldom if ever cut by the winter frost, it is strong evidence that it is not altogether a pure Tea, although sent out by the raiser as such. There are, of course, exceptions, but as a rule all Teascented Roses require some amount of protection.

Now there are two periods of the year in which roses suffer from frost-in winter and spring. In the former

the injury is inflicted on old or last year's wood, in the latter to the young spring growth. The protection of spring growth is a point that arises after pruning, a subject not immediately before us; we are now discussing how to protect roses after planting and before pruning. Let us confine ourselves to it.

To protect dwarf roses from winter frosts there is no better method than earthing up. Here again is demonstrated the advantage of growing the plants in rows, for the earth is skimmed from the space between the rows, and laid up in a ridge along the line of plants, like moulding up potatoes. A covering of earth some

2 inches above the union of rose with stock will suffice, although the higher the plant is earthed up the more of the wood will be preserved, because the wood below the surface of the soil is seldom injured by frost. When plants are thus earthed up and a severe winter follows, the frost may do all necessary pruning, but it will not kill the plant.

This earthing up method applies to roses of short growth, but with roses which produce the blooms from the lateral eyes of long growth, such as Bardou Job or L'Ideale, for instance, it is necessary to do something more; for if these long shoots are cut the plant in spring will expend its energy in making fresh wood on which to give its flowers. To preserve long shoots they should be bent and pegged down as low as possible, and the whole row-supposing they are grown in rows-covered with bracken or some other material. I have successfully used boughs of common laurel or holly as a covering. Even with dwarf-growing roses, in addition to earthing up, a

bough or two of evergreen stuck round each plant will serve as an effectual protection.

With standards another system must be adopted. Here the vital part to be protected is the junction of rose with stock. A hayband, a wisp of straw, or bracken

-the last-named is the best by reason of its lightnessmay be bound round this part, and when thus protected it matters but little if the top is left exposed. Because the frost strikes downward, an inverted cone of straw or a straw envelope used for wine bottles, cut and opened out, are said to be good protectors. I have tried this plan, but cannot say that such a covering is absolutely perfect, since the cone seems to afford too much protection; it keeps the standard warm, thus engendering premature growth. Therefore of the two methods I prefer the single wisp round the junction.

But when all has been said the question arises, is it really worth while for the ordinary amateur to grow those Teas and other sorts that need so much protection in the winter? There was a time when we wanted them for the sake of their colour, and because, in contrast with Hybrid Perpetuals, which formed the bulk of our garden roses, they flowered well in autumn. But now there are such hardy Teas as Marie van Houtte, Maman Cochet, and White Maman Cochet, together with many excellent hardy Hybrid Teas of the same character and similar tint, all of which require no winter protection, that one hardly thinks it is. And therefore to those who desire a few varieties only, my advice is this: cultivate only hardy sorts and leave the rest alone. And to all I would say, a rose that invariably succumbs to winter frost may well be dispensed with altogether.

CHAPTER X

PRUNING

I. General Remarks. II. Object of Pruning. III. Pruning and Thinning. IV. Tools for Pruning. V. Time for Pruning. VI. Pruning for Exhibition. VII. Pruning Decorative Roses.

I. GENERAL REMARKS

THE subject of pruning is a matter of such great importance that in order to make this chapter as far as possible complete in itself a certain amount of repetition must of necessity result, especially of some remarks made when previously dealing with individual varieties. It is therefore hoped the reader will pardon it.

To prune a rose correctly requires in some degree a knowledge of two things: of its habit, and the manner in which the flowers are produced. With reference to habit. As a general rule the stronger the growth the less the plant should be pruned, and the weaker the growth the harder it should be pruned. Hard pruning means cutting the shoots of the plant shorter. As to the mode in which flowers are produced, there are three ways in which this is done: (1) From the laterals or sideshoots of the stem, such as, for example, Gloire de Dijon, Crimson Rambler, and R. canina; (2) from a shoot springing from a side-shoot, such as the Austrian Briers; and (3) from the tip of the shoot, such as the

Hybrid Perpetual, Hybrid Tea, and all the Teas except those which are similar in growth to Gloire de Dijon.

The next point to be considered is, do all roses make wood and give flowers on this wood the same year? The answer is, no. Some roses make their growth one year, on which the flowers will come the following year; they do not send up a shoot and give flowers on it all in the same year. This is the case with Crimson Rambler, the moss, and all other roses that have only one crop of flowers in the year, called summer-flowering roses; varieties that are not perpetual. Then there is another class putting forth long shoots in the spring which will bear flowers late in the summer and have another crop in the autumn, such as Rosette Légion d'Honneur. And there is a third class by far the largest of the varieties in general cultivation that send up a constant succession of shoots on which flowers appear within a few weeks.

This being so, before we commence to prune a rose we must know to which of these classes this particular variety belongs. Many a rose is ruined from lack of perception as to its habit, or from indifference on the part of the operator to vary his time and method of pruning to suit the variety, but treats all roses alike, just as if they were so many pears or plums. He cuts them all at the same time of the year, cutting them as he imagines into shape, regardless whether they are summer flowering or perpetual. Ramblers and Dijon Teas are cut hard back in the spring just exactly as he does the Hybrid Perpetuals.

M