808 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
Staking and Training Standard Roses, All| standard roses above 2 ft. high 
require to be supported by stakes ; otherwise, when the head is loaded with 
leaves and flowers, it is very apt to be blown to one side, and either to be- 
come unsightly, or, probably, to be broken off. In country places, where wood 
is abundant, the stakes may be formed of poles or rods cut out of coppice- 
wood, or the thinnings of young plantations; and, of the former, those of 
the larch, the oak, and the ash will commonly be found to be the most 
durable. Where the thinnings of young plantations are employed for 
stakes, the most durable will be those of the larch ; and, where roses are 
grown extensively in the country, the most economical mode of staking them 
would be, to make plantations of larches from time to time, planted close 
together, and to cut them down, as wanted, when of the proper size. 
Where neatness and permanence are desirable objects, however, nothing can 
equal the stakes of cast and wrought iron, manufactured by Cottam and 
Hallen of London, and R. Mallet of Dublin. These stakes will be found 
described and figured, and their weight and prices given, in the Gardener’s 
Magazine, vol. viii. p. 556.; and it will be sufficient here to mention, that, 
in lengths of 7ft., a dozen of them will weigh 108 lb., and cost 13s., if the 
stakes are formed wholly of cast iron; while, if formed of wrought-iron rods 
let into cast-iron sockets, and varying in size from 2 ft. to 6ft. 6 in., they 
will cost from 2s. to 10s. 6d. per dozen. A considerable saving in the 
material used in these stakes is made by casting the sockets with flanches, 
or fins, fig. 532. 6, and also by casting the entire rod with fins, as in jig. 
532. a. These stakes are calculated for roses which are to have their heads 
closely cut in: but the Noisettes, and various kinds of China roses, produce 
most effect when the shoots are allowed to grow to the length of 2 ft. or 
3ft., or more, from the stem. To train these shoots into a regular head, 
stakes with ring or parasol tops, such as jig. 533, or fig. 534., are useful. 
In general, these stakes should not be fixed till after the roses have been 
planted two or three years, and have acquired strength sufficient to form 
a handsome head the first year the stake is placed beside them. When 
such a stake as fig. 533. is fixed in the ground, the ring at the top should 
stand about 1 in. or 2in. higher than the top of the stock. This ring is 
fastened to the two iron limbs of the standard by nuts, and is unscrewed, and 
hung on one of the limbs while the standard is being fixed; itis then raised 
to its place under the branches of the tree, which, as already observed, 
should be sufficient in number and length to extend over the ring. Mr. Law- 
rence, of the Querns near Cirencester, who appears first to have adopted 
this mode of training, selects six or eight of the strongest shoots in spring, 
and ties them to the ring with tow twine; and if, from their length, this be 
‘not sufficient to prevent the shoots from blowing about, he ties strings to the 
ring, and extends them to pegs stuck in the ground, All the other shoots of 
the head are cut back in the usual manner. Fg. 546. is an accurate sketch, 
taken in 1831, from a bizarre de la Chine rose, which was at that time six 
years planted. It is needless to say, that it formed a truly splendid object. 
Those who dislike the appearance of the strings may adopt, as a substitute for 
them, the parasol stake. ( jig. 534.) In the gardens at Gunnersbury, climbing 
roses of the more choice kinds are trained on wire domes, or demi-globes, or 
demi-ovals, 4 ft. or 5 ft. in height, and are found to produce an excellent effect. 
The wire rods are about a quarter of an inch in thickness. 
Removing Suckers and Side Buds from the Stocks on which Roses are worked 
is an operation which should not be neglected. It has been remarked by Du- 
mont, that suckers, when at a distance from the stem of the rose, do not 
appear to injure the plant ; which, indeed, is the case with the suckers of all 
trees or shrubs that come up at a distance from the stem; this being one of 
the modes of propagation which nature has supplied to a considerable num- 
ber of plants, both ligneous and herbaceous: but suckers from the base of 
the stem, and shoots from the stem itself, are less injurious in the case of 
the grafted rose, than in that of most other grafted plants. The reason is, or 
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