Jannary 23, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



CI 



ROSES ON THEIR OWN ROOTS, 



J/f^LAD am I that the subject of 

 gl■o^\lng Roses on their owii 

 roots has attracted the notice 

 of some of your correspon- 

 dents, and I rtatter myself 

 that furtlier experience will 

 briuf; more converts to the ranks of tliose wlio dislike the 

 trouble of workmg Roses, and, what is more, the incon- 

 venience attending them afterwards. I must, liowevcr, in 

 the first place state that mj' experience of worked Roses 

 on the Manetti stock has not been very extensive : but I 

 have had several hundreds on the briar, and a tolerably 

 good auinbcr on the Manetti also, the latter being mostly 

 dwarfs or lialC-standards. 



I have read with much interest the many articles which 

 your worthy correspondent Mr, Radclytfe has written on 

 the queen of flowers : but, liaving grown many Hybrid Per- 

 petuals on their own roots for some years with success, I 

 am rather disposed to differ from him when lie says that 

 they requh-e gi-eat care the first year, as my opinion v,-ould 

 be that the worl^ed ones require the care to prevent the 

 suckers usurping to themselves the whole energies of the 

 plant, and that those on their ovra roots merely need to 

 be let alone. In the spring of lf<.T7 I planted out about 

 two hundred Hybrid Perpetual Roses on then- own roots ; 

 they were not by anj' means over-^^•cll rooted, and had 

 been Ij'ing about some tune before planting, which was 

 late in the season. I had occasionally planted some be- 

 fore that tune, but less extensively : they succeeded so 

 well, however, that in tlie foUoTOig year I planted more, 

 and notliing could possibly liave thriven better tlian they 

 have done, they being rarely affected with ajihides, and 

 never to the same extent as those worked on the briar or 

 Manetti. One or two of the beds that were first planted 

 are still doing well, but some alterations involved the 

 removal of the bulk of them a yenv or two after tliej- were 

 planted ; they were replanted, and have succeeded so well 

 that, more Rose-beds being wanted, we planted last year 

 about Jive himdred more of the same kinds on tlieir own 

 roots. 



So much for this side of the question, let us talce a view 

 at the other, and this is not ^^^tllout its defects, but I 

 would rather they were narrated by some one who has 

 experienced more reverses than I have : for, with the ex- 

 ception of some lands not doing well, I cannot find a single 

 fault, as they are as strong and vigorous as could bo de- 

 sired, and the flowers inclividually iu-e much finer and 

 larger than those of the same varieties on stocks. Some 

 blooms of General Jacqueminot, wHeli were produced last 

 year, were the largest I ever saw. Such old kinds as Jules 

 Margottin, AlexancU-ine Baclunetelf, William Griffiths, 



No. 252.— Vol. X., New Series, 



AVilliam Jessie, Souvenir do la Reino d'Angleten-e. Augnste 

 Mie. Baronne Provost, Ducliess of Sutherland. Pius IX., 

 Caroline de Sansal, La Reine, Mrs. Rivers, Mrs. EUiot, 

 and several otliers are as vigorous as any one could wish. 

 Whether tlie non-success of a few arose from the varieties 

 not being adapted for tlie pm-pose,or whether they dwindled 

 and did not grow well in consequence of the unfavoiuuble 

 season that followed theii- planting (for that was done in 

 the cold spring of isiiil), or from some other cause. I can- 

 not affirm, but scA-eval lands whicli I had from an eminent 

 nurseryman died in the fiiUowing 'ninter, or rather they 

 dwindled away during the cold summer preceding the 

 memorable frost at tlie end of that year. I am, however, 

 far from certain that these might not have succeeded well 

 if planted in any other season ; but as the beds of wliich 

 tliey formed a part required to be kept somewhat uniform, 

 I prefen-ed planting the second time TOth kinds tliat had 

 been found to answer. I may add that the soil is dry, but. 

 not so mucli go as to starve them, but a good usefid garden 

 soil of fair depth, and that the situation is sunny. 



I have lu'ged all who want plenty of good Rose blooms 

 for cutting for bouquets, or even for the appearance of the 

 plants in a gi-o\ring state, to have these on their own roots, 

 as, with the exception of perhaps cutting out one or two 

 coarse shoots from a bed (not fi-om every plant), during 

 the Slimmer, keeping the weeds down, slightly digging the 

 gi'ound in autumn, and in-uning them in winter, such 

 Roses receive no other attention. There is no fear of 

 mistaldng the stock for the worked part of the plant as 

 in the case of Roses grown on the Manetti ; and I confess 

 having more than once made such a mistake myself in 

 a solitary plant, and mistakes of tliis kind are by no means 

 uncommon. A yeai; or two ago, in walldng round a garden 

 with a gentleman fond of floriculture, he pointed out. mth 

 some exultation, the vigorous condition of his Roses, and 

 called ray attention to them. A short glance revealed the 

 fact that, with the exception of one or two of the weakest 

 of tlicm, tlie rest were a mass of Jlanetti : and as lie had in 

 the previous year deteiinined to mcrease liis stock of plants 

 gi-(5«ing on their own roots, cuttings had been taken in 

 abundance, and they struck beautifully, and other beds of 

 bristly Manetti exhibited themselves in anotlier place. 

 Now tliis is not a solitary case. Much of the work of the 

 most eminent gardeners in the countiy must be left to 

 labouring men, and they can hardly be expected in all 

 cases to dislinguish between Blanetti and other lands of 

 Roses resembling that stock, or, perhaps, many may not 

 laiow that such plants really are on stocks. Now, there 

 is none of this trouble when Roses are on their own roots. 

 Briars are worse for suckers than the Manetti, only they 

 are never mistaken, but as they spread further they ai'e 

 often in the way of other cropping. iVll this, liowe\'er, is 

 so well known to the practical Rose-gi'ower that more on 

 this head need not be said hero. 



I may observe, and I do so in some degree mth regret, 

 that the Hybrid Perpetuals of such lands as those men- 

 tioned above do not furnish any suckers, so that recoui'se 

 to cuttings must be had for fresh plantations : and the 

 process is less rapid in pro\-iding a nmnber of plants in a 



No. 904.— Vol. XXXV, Om) Subies. 



