204 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



own roots by striking cuttings or buds, or making layers of 

 named roses, and tbe month of July is the best season in all the 

 year for these operations. Whether standards or bushes are required, 

 is of no consequence in the first instance, but a matter of after cul- 

 ture ; the important matter is the first step, and this consideration 

 brings us back to the point we had in mind at the first start — how to 

 make roses by the dozen, hundred, thousand, and million. 



Brier roses are admirably adapted for deep loamy and heavy clay 

 soils. In any and every case the ground intended to be planted 

 with roses, should be well drained, and if the subsoil is anything 

 approximating to a clay or deep rich loam, brier roses may be planted 

 with a fair prospect of success. To make brier roses is a simple 

 matter enough, when you know how, but very mysterious short of 

 that point. In the " Rose Book " ample instructions are given for 

 the multiplication of roses in all possible ways ; but here we must 

 cut the matter short by saying that the art of budding may be learnt 

 in five minutes on the ground with the help of the demonstrations 

 and explanations of one who is somewhat expert in performing it, 

 but will be very slowly apprehended by the best written instructions, 

 however freely illustrated and " adapted to the meanest capacity." 



Manetti roses are adapted for all soils and situations ; but have 

 an especial value for gravelly, chalky, and worn-out soils, because 

 of the abundance of roots the manetti brier produces, and its con- 

 sequent power of obtaining nourishment in comparatively barren 

 lands. When this stock is employed for dwarf roses, and it is not 

 suited for the production of standards, the stems should be budded 

 near the ground ; indeed a little of the earth should be removed to 

 enable the operator to insert the buds as low down as it is possible 

 to find a green lifting bark on which he can operate with a hope of 

 success. 



Own-root roses are, generally speaking, the most valuable of all. 

 They are such as have roots of their own, that is to say they are not 

 obtained^ by budding or grafting, but by the striking of buds or 

 cuttings, or putting down layers ; in each case the rose making roots 

 for its own sustenance, instead of being made to depend on the roots 

 of briers, manettis, or any other stocks. 



Any one who has had a little experience in the propagation of 

 bedding plants ought to find it easy and agreeable work to produce a 

 stock of own-root roses. Now is the time, and there are many modes 

 of procedure open to the choice of the proficient, who will have the 

 advantage of adopting that which the state of the wood at his disposal 

 and the conditions of the season and his own peculiar requirements 

 may suggest as the best. The simplest of all methods may be 

 described in a few words : — 



There will be found on all the rose-trees now, or say in the mid- 

 dle of July, a number of plump, young, green shoots of the present 

 year. As the seasons vary, so will the time vary for taking cuttings ; 

 and the best rule that can be given is, that they should be taken 

 when about half ripe, the wood being still green but firm, for so long 

 as it is decidedly soft and sappy it is unfit. The selected shoots 

 should be cut up into lengths of about four inches each, and the 



