52 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



and been in a great part rewritten in the preparation of this new edition. 

 It is, in every practical sense, a new work, though on the basis of the 

 original, which has long been out of print. Mr. Hibberd's connection with 

 the "Floral WoKLD," should not, we presume, in anyway interfere with our 

 thus calling attention to what is essentially a contribution to the horticul- 

 tural literature of the age, and strange it is that never before had any 

 attempt been made to present a complete code of gardening for townsmen. 

 "We couple the two works together as congenial in spirit and in purpose. 

 For the occupant of a villa at a reasonable distance from the dust and 

 smoke of the town, Mr. Paul's "Villa Garden" will be found a safe and 

 comprehensive guide, and as agreeable to peruse as it is profitable to 

 follow in the whole routine of garden and greenhouse management. For 

 the toAvnsman, who has to fight against soot, sulphur, and darkness, the 

 " Town Garden" will prove a sure guide through difficulties, and a copious 

 directory to the families and species which have proved most tractable 

 as embellishments to plots of ground hemmed in on every hand by houses. 





STOCKS AND GRAFTS. 



People v. ho talie tlie advice of the 

 Floeal World have now nothing to do 

 in the way of stocks, because they were 

 admonished again and again in the autumn 

 to get all stocks and trees planted while the 

 ground was warm ; but those who did not 

 take advice may yet save their bacon, but 

 we have come to the last moment, and 

 planting must be finished out of hand. 

 Pear, plum, apple, and rose stocks may yet 

 be got in, and when in must be mulched 

 with short dung, and have plenty of water 

 in dry weather, to get them fit for budding 

 in July. Those that have become esta- 

 blished may be grafted this month, as the 

 sap will be rising ; but newly-planted stocks 

 will not take grafts. About rose-stocks, one 

 of the best rows I have for this season's 

 working was obtained from suckers thrown 

 up by briers in the nursery last year, and 

 taken off in November. This is better 

 than cutting the sucker off in the summer, 

 for the chances are that from some of the 

 lower buds a lot more will come imme- 

 diately, whereas by letting the sucker have 

 its way, it grows plump ; and, by turning 

 the earth aside with a fork, it may be re- 

 moved with a good root, stock, and fibres, 

 in a fit state for planting. I often work 

 suckers the same season that they rise, 

 waiting till August, when they are gene- 

 rally firm enough, and the young wood 

 takes the bud well. Those who have their 

 standards surrounded with suckers may 

 turn them all to account for stocks as far 

 as they are sufBciently straight and strong, 

 but they must be taken off with care, 

 or the remaining roots of the rose will 



suffer. I hope, however, that this advice 

 will not lead people to encourage suckers 

 from the roots of standard roses ; they 

 draw strength from the tree, and the rule 

 of removing them is not a bad one. It is 

 only in exceptional cases, where the head 

 grows vigorously, and the root neverthe- 

 less throws up a plump, vigorous shoot, 

 that the shoots should be allowed to ripen 

 for future use, or have a bud inserted the 

 same season. Plants new from the nurse- 

 ries will often make strong side-shoots 

 from the lower part of the stock, and 

 if these are cut off, the abundance of 

 sap in the stock may cause an outbreak 

 elsewhere; hence, instead of removing it, 

 slip in a bud at the base, and train the 

 shoot from that bud to the stem, and so 

 have a tree-rose instead of a rose-headed 

 mop. 



In grafting fruit-trees, the future 

 bearing and character will very much de- 

 pend on the stock used. For standard 

 apj)les use the crab or codling as a stock, 

 and for dwarf pyramid bushes the para- 

 dise. For standard pears use the " free" 

 pear stock ; for dwarfs the quince. Plums 

 and peaches are grafted on the Brussels 

 plum, but the trade are getting to use what 

 is called the " commoner" stock, which is 

 a sort of wild plum, which answers well 

 for apricots, and the mixed plum for 

 peaches ; the latter, however, are often 

 grafted on apricot-stocks. It should be 

 remembered tliat grafted trees bear earlier 

 than budded ones, and tliat grafting is an 

 easier operation than budding ; but stocks 

 not iu order for grafting this season may 



