April.'} l/lSLE DE BOURBON ROSES. 69 



vious summer fail, it is worth while to have recourse to graft- 

 ing, which may succeed, and thus make up for the failure. 

 The cleft-grafting is much practised, especially on the conti- 

 nent of Europe, and is the most successful method. It is 

 necessary that the scion (or young shoot that is intended to 

 be multiplied) should be cut from the bush before vegetation 

 commences, and placed in some shaded situation till the time 

 of operation, which will be after the buds begin to swell on 

 the stock, when the head of the stock may be cut horizon- 

 tally to its desired height, and a slit made in its crown down- 

 ward one and a half or two inches. The scion should be cut 

 into lengths of two and a half or three inches, and then, 

 cutting its lower end into a wedge-like shape, inserting it 

 into the slit of the stock, keeping the back of the stock and 

 scion in contact, which must be held firmly and bound with 

 ligatures of soft bast-mat or worsted, and, in order to render 

 it water-proof, cover it with a paste made of pitch and bees- 

 wax, or clay mixed with old slaked lime; if the latter is 

 used, it will sometimes crack, which must be carefully filled 

 up. In August or September, the ligatures may be cut on 

 one side, allowing the clay or wax to be displaced with the 

 natural growth of the plant. Should the graft fail, you have 

 still the resource of budding in August on the young shoots 

 that will grow from the stock. It must be observed that 

 grafting leaves a worse wound to heal over than budding, 

 unless the stock and scion be nearly of the same size. Every 

 bud which appears below the graft should be carefully rub- 

 bed off, except one or two nearest the crown, to encourage 

 the sap upwards to the grafts; and as soon as the latter begin 

 to throw out leaves, the shoots from the stock should be 

 shortened, and in one or two weeks more entirely taken off, 

 if the scion has fairly grown. For whip-grafting, see page 61. 



L ISLE DE BOURBON ROSES. 



This group of Roses is one of the finest in the whole 

 family of the " Queen of Flowers." They arc generally per- 

 fectly hardy, of luxuriant growth, and will grow almost in 

 any soil. They are profuse in blooming from June to Oc- 

 tober, and many of them delightful in fragrance. They are 

 flowering ornaments of the garden, either as standards/ 



