This is the best time to prune ever-blooming climbing roses, such as
_Champney_, _Scarlet Cluster_, _Duchesse de Dino_, _Notsette_,
_Burgenville_, &c. Many of these, when allowed to grow year after year
without pruning, become unsightly; they never bear flowers on the old
wood, that is, wood of three or four years. Having a tendency to throw
out young shoots from the bottom of the stem, the old wood should be cut
out, thus encouraging the young wood, which the second year bears the
most and finest flowers. In severe winters, the extremities of the
shoots are frequently killed, and we have often seen all the wood black
or brown, and apparently dead. When that is the case it is best to leave
it until they begin to grow, which will show what is dead or alive, when
they can be pruned to better advantage.