64 STOCKS. 



A whole volume could be written upon the wild Roses 

 of this country and abroad, and it would make a most 

 interesting study to follow the hybridization of wild 

 varieties alone. Indeed, a garden devoted to a col- 

 lection of all the known wild Roses of the world would 

 be of deep interest. What could be more beautiful 

 than our own wild varieties of the Dog Rose? But I 

 hardly ever remember seeing it cultivated in any Rose 

 garden, although it forms the foster-parent to nearly 

 all our beautiful introductions. There are limits, and 

 this book, like the modern Rose garden, is for practi- 

 cal purposes. For this reason I have not burdened 

 the reader with a list of possible stocks, their nature 

 and habits, but have taken only th®se tested and 

 found most suitable for all requirements. These are 

 the Dog Rose, the De La Grifferaie, the Manetti and 

 the Laxa. For all-round purposes you cannot equal 

 the old Dog Rose, from which may be had weepers, 

 standards, cuttings and seedlings ; and although the 

 Manetti is a popular stock with many growers, yet its 

 value lies principally in its use as a stock for Roses 

 forced for market under glass, and H.P.s grown for 

 exhibition purposes that do best as maidens. 



The De La Grifferaie is a splendid stock for Tea- 

 scented and Chinese Roses that are to be grown in 

 pots, and cuttings are generally struck in the autumn 

 for this purpose. 



The Laxa, like the De La Grifferaie, is a good 

 stock for Tea Roses, and is much used in some of our 

 nurseries, but for general purposes we cannot beat 

 the wild Dog Rose of the British Isles, and on this 

 stock and the Manetti most of our Roses are budded. 



Good standard briars can be got from hedges that 

 have not been cut and layed, and in digging them out 

 every care should be taken to secure good roots. 

 Armed with leather gloves, a graft or narrow spade, 

 a stock axe or, as it is called in some counties, a 

 grub axe, a pair of secateurs or a heavy knife, and a 



