Febranry 4, 1869. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOnLTUBE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



77 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Ddj 



Doy 

 Week. 



Tu 



F 



S 



Sdn 



M 



To 



w 



FEBRUARY 4-10, 186!l. 



Meeting of Royal &nd LioDoan Sooieties. 

 Rnynl HorticaU.unil Society, Promenade. 



(^UINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 



Meeting of Itoyal GeogrBphical Society. 

 Royal Ilorticultunii Society, Annunl 

 [(Jenoral Meeting, 3 I'.M. 



Averfl«o Tomporiituro jL^t 8nn 



noor Londen. .„ '""' RioeB. 



Doy. 

 44.9 



45.B 

 46.4 

 40.9 

 4f).6 

 45.:i 

 44.7 



Nleht. 

 82.9 

 33.7 

 82.8 

 82.8 

 BUB 

 81.5 

 29.8 



Mean 

 88.9 



sg.R 



89.C 

 89.8 

 88.9 

 S8.J 

 87.2 



Days, 



2U 

 2U 

 21 

 28 

 22 

 17 

 10 



iW at 7 



San 

 Seta. 



m. h. 

 .02 af 4 



64 4 



Moon 

 IUbcs. 



Moon 

 Seta. 



m. h, 

 27 all 



88 2 



m. b 

 22alll 

 50 11 

 after. 

 34 

 18 1 

 9 2 

 4 3 



Moon'a 

 Ane. 



DUVB. 



28 

 24 

 25 

 2« 

 27 

 28 

 29 



Clnek 



before 



Bun. 



14 13 



14 17 



14 21 



14 25 



14 27 



14 29 



14 29 



"oY 



Year 



36 



8« 

 .S7 

 88 

 89 

 40 

 41 



From observations taken near London during the last forty-two years, the average day temporatore of the week is 45.0 ; and its night 

 lemporatnro 32.3". The greatest heat was 65 ', on the 10th, 1831 ; and the lowest cold 10', on the 5th, 1830. The greatest fall of rain was 

 0.67 inch. 



ROSES ON THEIR OWN ROOTS. 



F all thp methods of cultivating the Rose per- 

 haps none has been more generally adopted 

 than that of budding on Briar stems to form 

 standards. This mode of culture may be very 

 suitable for some soils, but it is. neverthe- 

 less, a most stitf and ungraceful one, to wliich 

 we cannot iind any similarity in nature — a 

 safe guide in all such matters. In my opinion, 

 no form can be more elegant in outline, or 

 more pleasing to the eye, than a pyramidal 

 or cone-shaped bush, no matter whether it be a dwarf plant 

 .3 or 4 feet high, or a lofty pillar of 10 or 12 feet, provided 

 its height be adapted to its position. To obtain such plants, 

 I know of no better or safer plan for cultivators generally 

 than to have them on their own roots. I know that Ma- 

 nettihas its advocates in some of the most eminent rosarians, 

 yet if a tolerably good loamy soil can be had, and a fair 

 supply of manure and liquid stimulants atforded, no one 

 need fear the result when planting Roses on their own 

 roots, or despair of success, even if it is eventually intended 

 to exhibit blooms at the " National " or elsewhere : for 

 Roses gi'own in this way. if rightly managed, are quite 

 equal in size, number, and beauty to those which may be 

 produced on any other system, and are quite iitted to com- 

 pete even with those grown on the redoubtable Manetti. 



The advantages of growing Roses on their own roots are 

 obvious. If the winter is so severe as to kill the plants 

 down to the mulching or snow line, which, it is true, does not 

 often happen — yet if such should be the case, the plants are 

 quite certain to break into strong growth in the spring, and 

 to produce some good blooms in summer. Or, if the plants 

 should throw up suckers (and if the requisite high culture is 

 afforded, some suckers are certain to make their appear- 

 ance), these, instead of being a pest, are most usefiil ; for 

 by pinching the tops off the suckers at any suitable height, 

 side shoots are formed, which are very serviceable in fill- 

 ing up any vacancy, or in making the plant more bushy. 

 Then, again, no method can compare with this for obtaining 

 a well- shaped plant, with fine robust wood, in a short space 

 of time, as a period of two years from the time of making 

 the cutting is all that is required to produce handsome 

 pyramidal plants of from :} to 4 feet high, and from 2 to 

 S feet in diameter at the base. The only forcing which 

 the plants have, if it can be called forcing at all, causes 

 that quick, strong growth of the roots and branches which 

 is to be obtained by a judicious use of guano water, or any 

 other stimulating liquid manure ; fen- no matter how gross 

 may be the growth of the plants, all may be kept well in 

 hand by judicious and timely pinching ; in fact, if the 

 plants grow as vigorously as they ought to do, they will 

 require pinching and training almost weekly, especially in 

 the second year. 



Here I would advert to an error in Rose-culture which 

 I have frequently noticed in the pages of this .Journal — 

 namely, the wonderful growth of shoots 8 or 10 feet in 

 length which some highly cultivated Rose trees are said 

 to produce in one season. Now, if such shoots are in- 

 No. 410.— Vol. XVI., New Series. 



tended to be pegged down, to fiprm a bed or to cover a 

 bank, they would, of course, be most useful : but if they 

 are the offspring of dwarf bushes or standards, then I 

 venture to think it is so much vigour wasted, which, if the 

 shoots had been stopped in time, would have given many 

 strong, healthy, dwarf shoots, instead of a giant one, and 

 which would have gone far towards the formation of a 

 handsome bush. Moreover, should this pinching cause a 

 superfluity of shoots, they can not only be cut off in the 

 pruning season, but they wiU also offer a much better 

 choice of wood to the knife and judgment of the pruner. 

 Even in the case of old-established plants, the gross shoots 

 might advantageously be made to attbrd some fine autumn 

 blooms, rather than be allowed to ran to waste. Such 

 rampant shoots must also cause the rosery to present a 

 rough and untidy appearance. 



At no better time can Rose cuttings be made than di- 

 rectly after the first or summer bloom is past. Stout firm 

 wood of the current year's growth, and which has carried a 

 truss of bloom, should be selected for cuttings, which, when 

 made, should not be longer than (J or 7 inches, including 

 2 inches to be inserted in the soil. This length will admit 

 of two, and in close-jointed wood of three eyes, with a por- 

 tion of each leaf on the upper part of the cutting. A small 

 porti(jn of the old, or last year's wood, must be left at the 

 base of the cutting to form what is termed a heel, as in /iij. 1. 



Fig.l. 



Fig. 2. 



which represents part of a finished cutting ready for in- 

 serting in the soil, A;/. 2 showing the branch from wliich 

 the cutting was taken. This heel is quickly coated over 

 by the callosity, which soon begins to form, and from which 

 the roots readily start. 



In ordinary seasons the cuttings wUl have made^roots 

 enough to bear removal in March ; but I may mention as 

 a result of the extraordinary mildness of the present winter, 

 that I have now a boxful of well-rooted cuttings with shoots 

 an inch long, which were put in last August, and have 

 had air constantly day and night. I do not think any tiling 

 will be gained by such an early growth, as it will be 

 unsafe to plant-out the struck cuttings tiU all danger from 



No. 1M2.— Vol. XLI., Old Sekieb. 



