io6 



IRISH GARDENING 



Roses. 



Rose Budding. 



Bv O'DoNEL Bk(j\vnk, M.D. 



H' 



^^ 



FLOWERS in July should be very 

 g"Ood this year, as the cold weatliej- 

 duiing' June has for a lime stopped 

 I hem from being rushed open, as ihey 

 ui-re during early part of June. It was a 

 iLTr'ible lime for rushing during the end 

 of Ma\- ani.1 early June ; my poor Roses 

 were forced to open, and the flowcis had 

 not time to come to perJ'ection as to size. 

 J ust as they were opening a heavy shower 

 came and gummed up all m}' fuller formed 

 varieties, such as K. A. Victoria and 

 Mme. Jules Gravereau.x, which spoilt the 

 whole crop. If we have good, warm, 

 I'loudy weather in July we should have a 

 tine show of Hybrid Perpeluals. and the 

 dark reds should be good. What has 

 been a great pleasure this year is to sec 

 the great and abnormally fine growth on 

 the Teas. My plants are under a wall 

 facing south, and this wall saved m}' 

 plants fiom all the east wind which pre- 

 vailed during the young, growing days, 

 with the result that I have lovely growth. 

 Some varieties, such as Anna Olivier, W. 

 R. Smith (very fine), the Cochels, ami 

 Mme. Constant Soupert, have been out for 

 some time. During July we should not get lazy and be 

 content with cutting our flowers. Give your beds a 

 slight dressing of some artificial food ; cut awaj' all 

 over-blown and wasted flowers, and keep the hoe going 

 to promote the secondary grow ths for August. Do not 

 neglect to search for mildew. It is first noticed as a curl 

 in the leaves, which in a few days begins to turn whitish. 

 Get a good syringe with a fine rose (the Abol syringe 

 with the bent connection and finest rose is the best I have 

 tried), and spray the undersides of <;// rose foliage every 

 thirdday with eitherMoEftic orcyllin wash. Theformer 

 is ready prepared and sold in all seed houses, the lattei' 

 you make at home. Buy, say, half a pound of C)llin soft 

 soap and a small bottle of pure cyllin at the chemist's. 

 To each gallon of soft water add i>ne ounce of pure soft 

 soap (having previously melted the soap in warm water), 

 and to the solution of soft soap and water add one tea- 

 spoonful ofthe cyllin. This makes a white solution com- 

 monly known as Jeye's disinfectant. Al the Rose Confer- 

 ence in London at end of last year Mr. I'emberton strongly 

 advised Calvert's soft soap (carbolic) to be used. Take 

 one and a half pounds of this soap, and boil it in seven 

 and a half quarts of water. Use as a spray one p.'irt of 

 above to six parts of soft water. The water should be 

 soft or pond water. Spray whenever you see any signs 

 of mildevN', and do not rest easy during the growing 

 season. The under sides of the foliage is //ic place 

 to get at, it's no use going at the upper surfaces of 

 the leaves. Another word and I am done for the 

 present. When cutting your flowers for decoration, 

 do not be niggardly, but cut plenty of stalk 

 to each flower, for this promotes your secondary 

 growths from the base. 



Jl.'L\' is generally the month for this operation, bul it 

 is not so much the time of year that needs con- 

 sideration as catching both stock and Rose bud in 

 the most suitable condition. In the case, too, of several 

 new and scarce varieties, we are compelled to bud at 

 the time such buds are available, and no set date can 

 be chosen. I have frequentl}' budded from mid-June 

 until early in September, but the lattei' date does not 

 always allow the bud to set firmly enough to pass through 

 the v^inter unless a rather extended growing season 

 follows. I do not care for coarse-growing stocks. 

 W'hen rampant, there appears to be so much sap that the 

 bud is flooded, and for this reason I do not believe in 

 manuring or forcing the stocks as some do. A strong- 

 grow ing and rapidly-swelling stock also has a tendency 

 to grow over the bud and smother it, the Rose-bud itself 

 scarcely growing after insertion, and never at a corre- 

 spondingly quick rate. Medium-strength stocks also 

 set earlier and firmer, and are better able to pass 

 through the winter. A little observation will show that 

 a seedling Briar stock that was little larger than 

 an average knitting needle when first planted will 

 swell to a circumference of two and a half inches 

 upon high-cultivated soil, and this is by no means so 

 good as when the stock grows less and makes firmer 

 wood . 



Do not attempt any budding until the bark lifts 

 easily, and be sure the bud itself is in a suitable 

 condition. The slock will be available much longer 

 than the Rosebud, and we must catch the latter as 

 opportunity offers, more especially in the case of new 

 varieties. 



On no account should there beany bruising or forcing 

 when raising the bark of the stock to make room for 

 the Rose-bud. nor should the bud itself need any force 

 to remove the small portion of wood covering the seat 

 of the eye. It is a great factor towards success when 

 we can do the work without undue disturbance of the 

 sap, both upon the Rose-bud and the stock. Quickness 

 is also advisable, never nllowing the sap to dry up by 

 exposure. Nor should there be any delaj' in tying in 

 the bud. The average amateur does not tie in firmly 

 enough, nor lake enough care to ke^p the tie close to 

 the back of the eye or bud, and so secure its being 

 close down upon the wood ot the stock. At the same 

 time we must not bruise by too close lying. Never use 

 an eye that does not show its seat prominently. W'hen 

 the Rose-bud is either loo old or too young you will find 

 a hollowinslead of a seal or heel, and without the latter 

 very few buds will live. Always bud dwarfs as low- 

 down upon the roots as possible, and the shoulders of 

 standard Briars as near to the main stem as can be 

 done. I am a strong believer in the selection cf buds, 

 and would always use from healthy plants, making even 

 a further selection of buds from beneath a well-finished 

 or highly-coloured blossom. Like has a tendency to 

 reproduce itself in all phases of propagation, and I feel 

 we do not sufllciently recognise this when budding 

 Roses. Should the stocks not lift readily a free water- 

 ing often helps them if done a few days before the 

 operation. — R U., in Gnrdeniiig Illustrated. 



