90 THE UNHEATED GREENHOUSE 



tions. Catherine Mermet, for example, one of the most 

 charming of Tea Roses, will grow very easily from a slip taken 

 off with a " heel," and inserted in sandy soil under a bell-glass ; 

 or it will even put forth roots in a small jug of water, into 

 which a bit of charcoal has been dropped to keep it fresh. 



The main secret is to take the slip or cutting in the right 

 condition. Generally speaking, the end of the branch from 

 which a flower has been cut, slipped off at the juncture with 

 the stem, will be in exactly the half-ripened state most 

 promising for successful rooting. It is true that own-root 

 Roses take some time to grow into large plants, but an 

 established bush is a precious possession and will go on for 

 years. Cuttings may be put in out of doors from June to 

 October the earlier ones rooting the same season, while the 

 later will break away in the spring. Such rooted cuttings 

 make a good foundation for pot plants, and will give flowers, 

 if properly cared for, during six months, more or less, of the 

 year when the garden outside is bare. 



The routine of Rose culture is a large subject, and cannot, 

 of course, be fully entered upon in a short chapter the chief 

 object of which is to be suggestive. One main point in the 

 preparation of pot roses for winter flowering must, however, 

 be in the unheated greenhouse referred to here the removal 

 of every bud which forms during August and September, when 

 the second flowering of both Tea Roses and hybrid Perpetuals 

 may be naturally looked for out of doors. During the summer 

 all pot Roses that have flowered in the cold greenhouse should 

 be plunged in suitable quarters outside, so that they may make 

 new growth and ripen their wood, and it is during the latter 

 part of this period that they must be watched in respect of 

 disbudding. In fact, our winter Roses will be in proportion to 

 the judicious care and attention bestowed upon them, in 

 watering, mulching, and so forth during this important resting- 

 time. When they are brought under shelter again, in October, 



