THE MINNESOTA 



HORTICULTURIST. 



VOL. 35. JULY, 1906. No. 7 



ROSE PROPAGATION IN THE MINNESOTA NURSERY. 



JOHN NORDINE, LAKE CITY. 



In all its details, this is one of the largest problems with which 

 we have to deal and is consequently a large subject to treat fully 

 within the limits of a short paper. That the rose is the "queen of 

 flowers" is an opinion so widely held that it is not necessary to en- 

 large upon its qualities or value, and that it is one of the most 

 difficult features in the propagation list of a northern nursery is 

 likewise a fact to which I think all our fellow nurserymen in this 

 state will agree. The different kinds of treatment required by the 

 different classes of this great group of flowering plants makes their 

 successful propagation a complete study in itself. 



Hence, in order to treat my topic in as brief a manner as pos- 

 sible, I will merely describe the several processes by which rose 

 plants are grown commercially without considering their applica- 

 tion to individual species or varieties. To do this would be alto- 

 gether beyond the limit's of an afternoon discussion. 



One of the most common methods of growing roses, and the 

 one longest in use, is the one known as layering. In order to mul- 

 tiply from layers, it is necessary to have a strong plant wifh which 

 to operate. These stool plants, as they are commonly called, should 

 be grown in rows ten feet apart, with the plants two and one-half 

 feet apart in the row. In the spring these plants should be pruned 

 back so as to leave only the strongest shoots, and the shoots should 

 be cut back to four or five buds. After this is done, the soil should 

 have a liberal dressing of well rotted manure. A thoroug'h cul- 

 tivation should then be kept up until the first of July. This will 

 allow the wood to ripen somewhat before the layering is done, which 

 should be about the middle of July. 



Layering. 



Propagation by layering is one of the simplest processes, as 

 the stool plant furnishes nourishment to the young plant until it 

 establishes its own root system. It is a ready means of mul- 



