You already understand the importance of cultivating and the importance of feeding the plants. FERTILIZERS Two of the best foods for roses and easiest to use, are bone dust and dried sheep manure, which you can buy at the seed store. These you may dig into the soil as you cultivate, being sure not to let the fertilizers directly touch the roots. ENEMIES OF ROSES 1. Rose Bugs. 2. Aphids. 3. Rusts and Mildews. 4. Borers and other chewing insects. There are several different kinds of beetles, called rose bugs, which come up out of the ground where they have spent the winter, just at the time of the most abundant and beautiful blooming. In the Middle Atlantic States they stay in a place about two weeks. The best way to rid a plant of these enemies of roses which “eat them alive,” is to hand-pick them, throwing them into a can of kerosene. There is a patent preparation which is good. Write your dealer for information as to this. Treat for other insects as you have already learned. If your parents think you may be trusted to handle a poison, spray in the early Spring with “Bordeaux Arsenate of Lead” to prevent mildew and rust. In summer, use Flowers of Sulphur. Now, as to— PRUNING ROSES Prune rose bushes in the early Spring, just when the plants _begin_ to show green, which means that their sap is beginning to flow. Use pruning for cutting the stems back. Remember these principal rules: 1. Hybrid Perpetual Roses should be cut back about two feet from the ground. 2. Cut back Hybrid Tea Roses more sparingly, that is, farther from the ground than Hybrid Perpetuals. 3. Cut back Tea Roses only a short distance. 4. Cut only the dead wood from the other kinds. Pruning cuts off the ends of the branches and causes the plant to throw out strong joints from the eyes along the canes, which will bear flowers. “My,” exclaimed Mary Frances, as Billy closed his book suddenly and jumped to the ground. “Is that all about roses?” “No, dear,” answered her mother. “No, that is just a ‘first beginning,’ as you used to say when you were little.” “Speaking of insect enemies, I see the wicked rose bugs have eaten into the hearts of the most beautiful roses we own,” went on her mother. “Come,” cried Mary Frances, “let’s go see if we can find them—and drown them in kerosene.” “Oh, but I’m afraid of them!” shuddered Eleanor. Mary Frances laughed. “They won’t hurt you!” she said, running ahead. “I bet I can catch the first hundred!” CHAPTER XXXVIII THE FAIRY WOOD NYMPHS JUST as the family had planned, they started on the walk in the woods the next morning. Mary Frances and Eleanor were walking with their mother, while Billy and his father followed with the lunch baskets.