370 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
standards, but for dwarfs they can be budded when two years old. 
Those raised from seed sown in the nursery do not become strong 
enough and straight enough for standards. New shoots are con- 
stantly springing up from the crown, and every year they increase 
in strength, but never become straight enough to make good stocks 
for first-class standards. I have found that the very best stocks for 
budding several feet above the ground-level are obtained by cutting 
the young briers back. When they are four years old every brier 
in the plantation is cut back close to the surface of the soil. In the 
spring they break freely, and produce stout shoots as straight as a 
gun-rod. Inthe July following the severe pruning here recommended, 
the plants are examined and every shoot removed, except the 
strongest, which is also invariably the straightest, This is necessary 
to throw the whole vigour of the plant into one shoot, which alone 
is of any service. They require two seasons’ growth after arriving 
at this stage before they are lifted ard planted in the nursery 
quarters, but they may be budded in the July following their being 
transplanted. Standard roses on stocks such as are produced by the 
system described above, are, with ordinary cultivation, very healthy 
and durable; much more so than those worked on the hedge brier. 
Indeed, the latter are, comparatively speaking, worthless, for not more 
than one in ten ever makes a thoroughly healthy standard, 
Mr. Rivers conferred a great boon upon English nurserymen by 
introducing the manetti. I well remember Mr. Rivers mentioning 
to me at York, when he first introduced the stock, that he had a 
rose-stock which had been sent to him from the Continent by a 
gentleman who had stated that it was the best stock for dwarf 
roses. The gentleman referred to was Signor Manetti. Mr. Rivers 
sent a supply to Mr. T. Appleby, of York, who divided the stock 
with me. These stocks were planted about the year 1842, and in 
due course were worked, and when, two years afterwards, Mr. 
Rivers saw them he was quite astonished at the progress we had 
made with them. It was many years after this time before the 
stock became popular amongst the nurserymen. Many persons tried 
long and perseveringly to write it down, but after seeing the magni- 
ficent growth and blooms produced by plants on the manetti, and 
the facility with which it could be multiplied, and the rapidity with 
which the Continental and other new roses could with its aid be 
distributed, they were at last compelled to come “into the ring.” 
Certain it is that unless they had done so they could not success- 
fully compete with others in the trade. 
The manetti stock must still be used for spring and autumn 
grafting, as it is far superior to the seedling brier for that purpose. 
But as soon as sufficient to send out to the trade in large quantities 
can be propagated, I shall send out a stock whien is as superior to 
the manetti as that stock is to the seedling brier for the early pro- 
pagation of new roses. I say this without any desire to push trade., 
This stock suits all kinds of roses, hybrid perpetuals, teas, and 
noisettes taking to it freely, whether budded or grafted. This I 
call the Napoleon stock. It is earlier and freer than the manetti, 
and continues to grow until the sharp frosts come on. The manetti 
