76 CULTURE OP THE ROSE. 



In all grafting, whether of roses or other woody plants, 



it is necessary that the buds of the graft should be com 



* 

 pletely dormant. In the stock, on the other hand, a slight 



and partial awakening of the vital action at the time the 

 graft is put on seems rather beneficial than injurious 



In this mode of increasing roses, Nature, rather than the 

 cultivator, may be said to do she work of propagation. 

 Many sorts of roses throw out spontaneously long under- 

 ground stems, from which roots soon issue, and which soon 

 throw up an abundance of shoots above ground. When 

 these suckers, as they are called, are separated from the 

 parent, and planted apart, they make a strong growth, but 

 rarely form plants so symmetrical as those raised from cut- 

 tings or layers. 



