120 PARSONS ON THE HOSE. 



protection would be thus jiroduced, to ornament our fields 

 and gardens. 



SUCKERS. 



Many roses throw up suckers readily from the root, and 

 often form one of the principal causes of annoyance to the 

 cultivator. For this reason, budding and grafting should 

 always be done on stocks that do not incline to sucker. 

 The Dog Rose — on which almost all the imported varieties 

 are now worked — is particularly liaise to this objection, 

 and it is no unusual thing to see half-a-dozen suckers 

 growing about a single rose-tree. When the health and 

 prosperity of the plant are desired, these should be care- 

 fully kept down, as they deprive the plant of a material 

 portion of its nourishment. When, however, they are 

 wanted for stocks, they should be taken off every spring 

 with a small portion of i-oot, which can generally be ob- 

 tained by cutting some distance below the surface of tbe 

 ground. They should be planted immediately where they 

 are wanted for budding, and will soon be fit for use. 

 Many fine varieties of the summer roses will sucker in this 

 way, and an old plant when taken up will sometimes fur- 

 nish a large number of thrifty stems, each with a portion 

 of root attached. 



BUDDESTG. 



Fifty years ago, budding and grafting were very little 

 practiced, excepting with new varieties, that could with 

 great difiiculty be propagated in any other way. Within^ 

 that time, however, the practice has been constantly in- 

 creasing until now, when it is extensively employed in 

 Europe, and roses imported from France and England can 

 very rarely be obtained on their own roots. To this mode 

 of propagation, there is one great objection, while the ad- 



