HOW TO STRIKE ROSES 29 



suffices to hold the cuttings firm, and yet allows free 

 and perfect drainage. M. Grosdemange advises a com- 

 post of two-thirds fine river sand, slightly admixed with 

 earth, and one-third of a mixture of leaf-mould and well- 

 rooted manure. As a matter of actual fact the addition 

 of the leaf-mould and manure is not necessary, pure sand 

 with a little clayey soil in it is as good as any mixture. 

 The bed is prepared thus. A situation is chosen, pre- 

 ferably in a border running east and west, with shade 

 enough to prevent the sun striking on the bell-glasses 

 used to protect the cuttings. An even trench is made 

 in this bed, its sides being kept square by means of thin 

 planks on their edges, and the space filled in with the 

 prepared soil, the whole being raked level. The cut- 

 tings should be taken any time between the end of the 

 blooming period and the first frosts, as the leaves of 

 the parent plant must be strong and healthy. M. 

 Grosdemange limits the time to between the first fort- 

 night in September and the first fortnight in November, 

 but this need not be made a hard and fast rule. A 

 shoot of medium thickness should be chosen, and pre- 

 ference should be given to shoots with a heel, these 

 generally having a number of latent buds at their bases 

 which are likely to strike out into good shoots. The 

 cutting should have four eyes, and all but the two top 

 leaflets should be removed, two of the eyes being under 

 the surface of the soil when planted and two above. 

 Should the leaves of the parent bush have fallen before 

 cuttings can be made, the shoot will strike almost as well 

 without, and should be in all other respects the same as 

 that with leaves. Before planting the Rose shoots the 

 ground must be trodden quite firm, so as to hold the 

 cuttings quite securely, and should then be levelled 

 carefully to exactly fit the base of the bell-glasses. 

 Holes are made for the cuttings with a small dibber 

 about the size of a finger, and about an inch apart, and 



