184 SPRING AND SUMMER GRAFTING. 



indeed of all the AutumDal Roses that have been 

 forced will be mature and in a fit state for graft- 

 ing. One certain rule may be depended upon, 

 — when every flower on a shoot has fallen, that 

 shoot is ripe and in a fit state ; then take your 

 stock, cut otf cleanly all the shoots from the stem, 

 leaving only those at the top, which shorten to 

 within two inches of their base ; cut off from the 

 side of the stock a thin slice of bark, and fit the 

 graft to it as in whip-gTafting, as described in 

 page 175; only, instead of using bast for tying, 

 use cotton twist, and in binding on the graft do 

 not let the threads of twist touch, but mind that 

 you can see the bark of the stock between each 

 thread ; place the grafted stocks in a close moist 

 heat, till the grafts begin to shoot, cutting off 

 all the young shoots carefully from the stock 

 below the graft, and treat them exactly as re- 

 commended for cuttings in page 169, hardening 

 them gradually : in a fortnight they will be safe ; 

 as soon as the graft has made shoots four or five 

 inches long, the head of the stock should be cut 

 off close down to the graft : till this takes place 

 all the young shoots from the top of the stock 

 above the graft should be shortened but not 

 taken off. 



In May, shoots from Tea-scented, China, 

 Bourbon, and Noisette Eoses, grown in pots in 

 the greenhouse, will be fit to graft. In June, 

 shoots from roses of the same families, growing 



