THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 201 



THE PROPAGATION OF ROSES BY BUDDING. 



I HE stocks for budding upon should be procured at the 

 i'all of the leaf, if the eartb into which they are to be 

 transplanted be not wet ; if it be, their transplantation 

 should be deferred until the spring. A very dry place, 

 however, should not be selected for them, for in that 

 case it will be found that when the budding season arrives, the bark 

 does not remain in a fit state for the operation much longer than a 

 week, and consequently the chances of success are lessened every 

 day after that period. Great attention should be paid in selection of 

 stocks; all starved, bark-bound, diseased, or otherwise unhealthy 

 specimens should either be rejected altogether, or cut down to form 

 dwarf standards. Attention should be also carefully directed 

 towards ascertaining whether the stock has been in any way seriously 

 injured while being taken out of the ground, and if such is the case 

 it must be rejected altogether, for sooner or later disappointment 

 would ensue the very first time they might be subjected to any 

 extraordinary agency — such, for instance, as extremes of heat or 

 cold, of drought or moisture, so soon would they perish. How often 

 have I seen beautiful and valuable trees, not only of roses, but of 

 laburnums and many others, die, defective transplantation being the 

 primary cause, although they had lived in apparent health for ten or 

 twenty or more years. 



If the stocks to be budded have been in the situation in which 

 they may be growing for more than one year, it would be advisable 

 either to take them up in the spring and transplant them, or to cut 

 some of the roots off with a spade. Buds always succeed best when 

 inserted on transplanted stocks. 



Budding should commence as soon as the flower-buds of the 

 dog-rose in the hedges begin to open their calices. The varieties 

 of the Gallica, Hybrid China, and Provence families should, if pos- 

 sible, be always budded at this season ; for in that case they will 

 shoot and make fine heads before the winter sets in, and will bloom 

 well the following spring, neither of which will be the case if they 

 be delayed till the autumn. Budding may, however, be successfully 

 performed until the frost commences, provided that stocks can be 

 found at that time ; but, except in particular cases, I should prefer 

 waiting until next spring, as they would be but a week or two for- 

 warder — that is, if they be not killed by the frost, which would be 

 very probable. In the selection of shoots to choose the buds from, 

 those which are very strong should not be chosen, nor those that are 

 very weak. Sometimes there will be a necessity for budding from 

 weak shoots ; in that case a larger portion of bark should be taken 

 off with the buds to be inserted, than with a bud from a strong 

 shoot, which latter will require only a portion as small as can be 

 taken. The buds should be inserted as close to the main stem as 

 they possibly can be ; they will then be more firm in the stock, will 

 shoot stronger, and will be less liable to meet with accidents than 

 they would be were they inserted higher at a greater distance along 



July. 



