CHAPTER VIII. 

 STOCKS. 



" And in the midst, of briars it blows 

 Just like Love !" — Camoens. 



No Rose book could be complete unless it had 

 its chapter on stocks, and yet how many amateurs 

 ever g-ive the growing- of stocks a second thought? A 

 few standard briars dug from some neighbouring- 

 hedge is generally the limit of experience, or possibly 

 a few dwarf stocks from a nursery. With many, of 

 course, space is the controlling- factor, and every yard 

 of ground is jealously guarded, but not a few have 

 room enough and to spare for dozens of standard 

 briars and hundreds of dwarf stocks. 



A little trouble, a little care, and how large a 

 return ! Any woodman or farm hand will be only too 

 pleased to get you a few good standards, and what 

 is to hinder you from gathering seed pods and grow- 

 ing your own seedlings, or from preparing and plant- 

 ing your own cuttings? Even Rose growers in large 

 towns can graft and bud a few stocks ; it will be a 

 real source of pleasure, and although many may not 

 make a regular yearly practice of it, yet it is good to 

 have the knowledge and power to be able yourself 

 to propagate the Queen of Flowers by various 

 methods. 



There are, of course, a great variety of stocks ; 

 indeed, there is no reason why any wild Rose growing 

 in this country or abroad should not be used ; but in 

 most cases they are unsuited, and for various reasons 

 such as habit of growth, constitution and difficulties 

 in propagation, they fail to be of value to the trader. 



