166 PRACTICAL PLANT PROPAGATION 



Own-root Roses. By own-root Roses is meant plants which have 

 been rooted from cuttings, that is, they are growing on their own roots. 

 Own root Roses have these points in their favor: 



1. Although they do not make as large plants in as short a time, they 

 send up strong " breaks" from the base of the plant after the first of the 

 year. These breaks are often far superior to any "break" which a 

 grafted plant can make. 



2. Own-root plants are not so subject to black spot in early Fall. 

 The growth has not been so rapid; it is, therefore, not so soft. 



Many yellow sorts, for example, Sunburst and Mme. Collette 

 Martinette, do not make congenial unions with Maiietti; they are best 

 on their own roots. Golden Ophelia and Mrs. Aaron Ward are good 

 grafted. 



GRAFTING TO INCREASE YIELD 



Relative to an increased yield, due to grafting, Alexander Mont- 

 gomery, Jr.,* writes: "It seems to be the general opinion among those 

 who have never grown grafted stock, that their superiority over own- 

 root plants is chiefly during the early Autumn months. In order to 

 dispel any such notion, I shall give the figures of the cut by months from 

 a house of own-root Roses, and also from the same house planted with 

 grafts. While these figures do not take into consideration the quality 

 of the flowers, still, assuming that the grades are at least equal (and I 

 believe it is generally admitted that they are), they present evidence 

 which ought to satisfy the most skeptical. 



Month Own Root Grafted 



August 6,899 8,653 



September 11,31? 20,950 



October. . . 

 November. . 

 December. . 

 January. . . . 

 February. . . 



March 



April 



11,614 9,325 



10,373 16,558 



5,829 8,503 



7,277 10,653 



4,958 6,775 



7,634 9,997 



10,009 13,602 



May 13-834 20,813 



June 12,991 16,624 



Total 102,735 142,453 



"This is an interesting record for several reasons: It shows that 

 the same bench space produced forty per cent more flowers on grafted 

 than on own-root plants, a real money difference. The increase is 

 well distributed through the season, the month of Decmber showing 

 an increase of fifty per cent, as compared with the own-root stock." 



GRAFTING CASE 



Small growers who have refrained from going to the trouble of 

 grafting, could easily build a small frame, which would be handy for 

 many other uses. Most Rose grafting cases are built like a small 

 even-span greenhouse over a greenhouse bench. 



E. G. Hill builds his grafting cases so that the top is flat and merely 

 covered by panes of overlapping glass. The case should be 12 to 15 



* Montgomery, Alexander, Jr., History and Culture of Grafted Roses for Forcing. 



