HYBRID ROSES, OLD AND NEW. 137 



stock, Brier Cutting, Seedling Brier, or De la Grifferaie. Which of 

 these is the best has been a matter of much dispute among culti- 

 vators, and is likely to continue, as the finer varieties cannot 

 be had except worked on one or the other of these stocks. The 

 Manetti, for rapid increase of stock and for early maturity, is by 

 far the best, especially on light soils, though it will flourish in 

 almost any soil. 



The Brier Seedling is suited to wet soils, producing its roots 

 in a thick cluster at the base of the shoot, while the Brier Cutting 

 is best for dry soils, as its roots are produced from the surface of 

 the ground to the bottom of the stem. The Grifferaie stock 

 is strong, and well adapted for this purpose ; it is in itself a rose 

 of great vigor and hardiness, a very free bloomer, and quite 

 distinct in color, — so much so as to be noticeable in a collection. 

 Plants on their own roots are of slow growth, making very fine 

 roots, and requiring from two to three years or more to become 

 good substantial plants, equal in strength to those worked on the 

 Manetti stock at one-third the age. In using the Manetti stock, 

 if planted two or three inches below the collar or junction of the 

 bud with the stock the bud will throw out roots of its own, and 

 with this addition will produce plants of remarkable vigor. A 

 very good method of developing the roots rapidly is to tongue the 

 collar of the bud, by paring up a strip of the bark about one inch 

 long on each side of the collar, and planting this below the 

 surface. 



The leaf of the Manetti is not very easy to distinguish from the 

 ordinary rose leaf. The stem after attaining a little size is of a 

 reddish tinge, the suckers coming up about the stem, while in the 

 Brier the sucker is likely to extend some distance from the main 

 plant. This latter stock starts late in the spring, which causes 

 the plants to flower later, and perhaps rather more freely during 

 the season. It is well adapted for this reason to the Tea rose, 

 which is grown almost entirely in this way in England, and is 

 admirable for bedding purposes, growing with great vigor. 



A safe plan for obtaining own root roses is to take plants that 

 have made strong growth one season in the ground, lift them in 

 autumn, pot into four-inch pots, during the winter keep them in 

 a cold frame free from frost, and start them on in March in a 

 little heat. These make fine stock for planting in the ground in 

 June, and on until August ; this is perhaps the most satisfactory 

 way to procure own root plants with success. 



