October 17. 18l!7. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIODLTORE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



289 



CULTURE OF ROSES ON THE MANETTI 

 STOCK.— No. 4. 



PHOPAl!.\TI0N BY BUniilNG. 



lAFTING I have never prac- 

 tised. Roses should be bud- 

 ded as closely as possible to 

 the roots. I\Ir. Gill's Roses, 

 at Blandford, are budded 

 from 2 to 4 inclies above the 

 radius of the VMnts, lliidall propagators done the same, 

 and had the cultivator planted and pruned the Manetti 

 Rose properly, the stock never would have been in dis- 

 grace. Mr. Gill and his able foreman, !Mr. Doddridge, 

 scrape away the earth, and hence they can bud lower 

 than those who bud above the soU. If you obtain plants 

 budded high, you must plant them half-depth, and cover 

 the point of union with soil in the way Potatoes ai"e 

 earthed up. 



Manetti cuttings for budding should be planted in Sep- 

 tember, and be trodden in tirraly. Plant them in shallow 

 trenches, instead of on the Hat. For simple propaga- 

 tion the plants ma}' be fi inches apart and in inches from 

 row to row : that is the distance at Mr. Gill's nur.scries. 

 An acre of Manetti Roses, I should think, would pay well 

 at Is. per plant. I buy them h}' the humlred at much less 

 for ready money. I suggest to nurserymen that they 

 should make a difference between large purchasers and 

 small, and also between credit and ready money. '" A 

 nimble ninepence is better than a dull shillhig. " 



EXHIBITION HINTS. 



In growing Roses for exhibition, shades are necessary. 

 The blooms should not he wetted, nor should you try to 

 force a Rose to expand with your fingers. Simply liold it 

 towards tin; wind, and vibrate if. Do not touch a delicate- 

 coloured Rose without white kid gloves ; the blooms are 

 apt to soil. Place in yom- box, nicely dressed with tree 

 moss, expanded blooms, or better, blooms about to expand, 

 rejecting any that have clefts in the side. Take a good 

 supply of unexpanded Roses : on arrival at the show they 

 will often be your best. At Reading, in istil, I won first 

 prizes for the trebles and singles by taking an exti'a munber 

 of spare unexpanded Roses. I never knew Roses deca}' so 

 fast as on that occasion. The weather was hot and foggy. 

 The best weather in which to travel with them is when 

 the wind is north or north oast. In travcUing with them 

 keep a wet cloth over the cover of the box Do not paint 

 the cover of the box. paint draws the heat. Keep the 

 cover of the box close. A small gauze wire at the side of 

 tlie box may do good by letting out internal heat. Place 

 your lai'gest Roses, as well contrasted as you can, in the 

 top line, the next largest in the second line, and the 



No. Mi— Vol. XIII., Niw Ssnus. 



smallest in the third line, as the eye of the spectator goes 

 forward. They look best when they are all even in size ; 

 but this can seldom be combmed with variety of colours. 

 It is better to put into the box a level Rose than a splendid 

 Rose in some points, 3-et signaUj* defective in one. Put a 

 Rose that has no foliage, or inferior foliage, between two 

 Roses that have good foliage. Roses out of condition have 

 no claim to a prize, however good they may have been. 

 Sprawlers with shilling eyes are horrors ! Large Roses with 

 bad centres, bad outlines, and a rough aspect will not do. 

 Medium-sized Roses travel best. I believe those Roses to 

 be most fit for exhibition which have most of the following 

 qualities : — Correctness of outline, fulness to the centre, 

 well-disposed substantial petals, smootliness of petal at 

 the edges, roundness of petal, depth of petal, choiceness, 

 intensity and fixity of colour, good foliage, and a firm erect 

 stalk. 



For cultivation in the open gi-oimd Roses should be of 

 vigorous gi-owth, free and constant bloomers, and tough- 

 skinned, to endure the severity of the winter. 



Before you start for the exhibiticm make up your mind 

 to keep your temper. If you are beaten, hold your tongue. 

 If judges act unfau-ly they lose theu: self-esteem, and the 

 good opinion of a discerning public. As far as London is 

 concerned, I have, ^\ith one exception, thought that the 

 adjudications have been right. As regards those with 

 whom I have acted in Londosi, the impression left on my 

 mind is that they were most painstaking and fair men. In 

 some country places all lands of favomitism are practised. 



DISEASES. 



These are chiefly mildew, orange fungus, red fungus, 

 black mildew or black patch, chlorosis, and honeydew. 



Mildew is one of the worst diseases, especially if it sets 

 in early, before the wood is ripe. August and September 

 are the two months in wliich it is most apt to appear, and 

 the weather most suitable to it is such as would produce 

 Mushrooms. If you hold up a mildewed leaf to the level 

 of your eye. and survey it with a powerful glass, you will 

 see little fuugi. The general appearance of a inildewed 

 leaf in the early stage of the disease is that of snow. Mil- 

 dew does mischief by rooting into the tissues of the leaves 

 and stopping up tlic breathing pores. In September, if 

 the to]) shoots are veiy badly affected before you see it, the 

 tops may be cut off anil destroyed. I use blue vitriol ( 2 ozs.) 

 dissolved in hot water, and added to an orduiary watcring- 

 potful of cold water. If the case is imusually bad I use it 

 1 oz. stronger. In light cases, where it only appears here 

 and there on a leaf. I rub it off with my fingers. If plants 

 were kept well watered over their foliage and roots from 

 the time of leaf-development mildew would be much more 

 rare. 



Orani/e /mil Be/l FiDii/iis affect the imder sides of the 

 leaves, and are, therefore, more difficult to cure than mil- 

 dew. My plants have had but little of either this year, 

 and I have done nothing by way of cure, not knowing what 

 can be done. I am inclined to think that the best way to 

 save the health of the plant is to take it up, and fresh plant 

 it at once. 



Black Mildew, called, also, scald and black patch, is 



tio. 994.— ToL. X.XXTIIL, Ou> SxBlsa. 



