174 CULTURE OF TfeEE ROSE. 



liable to this objection, and it is no unusual thing to see half-a- 

 dozen suckers growing about a single rose-tree. When the health 

 and prosperity of the plant is desired, these should be care- 

 fully kept down, as they deprive the plant of a material portion 

 of its nourishment. When, however, they are wanted for stocks, 

 they should be taken off every spring with a small portion of 

 root, which can generally be obtained by cutting some distance 

 below the surface of the ground. They should be planted imme- 

 diately when they, are wanted for budding, and will soon be fit 

 for use. Many fine varieties of the summer roses will sucker in 

 this way, and an old plant when taken up, will sometimes fur- 

 nish a large number of thrifty stems, each with a portion of root 

 attached. 



BUDDING. 



Fifty years ago, budding and grafting were very little practised, 

 excepting with new varieties, that could with great difficulty be 

 propagated in any other way. Within that time, however, the 

 practice has been constantly increasing until now, when it is 

 extensively employed in Europe, and roses imported from France 

 and England can very rarely be obtained on their own roots. 

 To this mode of propagation, we know of but one objection, and 

 that easily obviated by proper care, while the advantages in many 

 varieties are sufficiently great to counterbalance any inconveni- 

 ences attending the cultivation of a budded or grafted rose. It 

 is generally the case, that the stock or plant on which the Rose 

 is budded, is of some variety that will throw up suckers very 

 freely, which growing with great luxuriance, will sometimes 

 overpower the variety budded upon it, and present a mass of its 

 own flowers. The purchaser will thus find a comparatively 

 worthless bloom, instead of the rare and beautiful varieties whose 

 appearance he has been eagerly awaiting, and upon the head of 

 the nurseryman will frequently descend the weight of his indig- 

 nation, for furnishing him with a worthless plant, instead of the 

 new and beautiful variety for which he paid. This difficulty can, 

 however, always be avoided by a very little attention. The 

 shoot of the stock can very readily be distinguished from that of 



