Treatment of Seedlings, 131 



petual and there a Chinese or Tea-scented. Or if we feel inclined for a closer analysis 

 by descending from groups to individuals, we may in some instances trace the seedling 

 from a particular variety. Here is one evidently born of General Jacqueminot, there 

 another from Victor Verdier. Thus far we may amuse ourselves and settle the 

 matter in our own minds, although the flowering of these individuals may not always 

 substantiate our preconceived notions. 



I have seen seedlings of the Bourbon and Chinese Roses flower when little more 

 than a month old. This, however, should be prevented rather than encouraged. It 

 weakens the plants, and does not impart any real knowledge to their proprietor. The 

 flowers may be white, they may be red, and this is the absolute amount of knowledge 

 to be gleaned from them. As to size, form, fulness, and the other valued properties 

 of Roses, no true idea can be formed. It is well, then, to pinch off the flower-buds 

 immediately that they are seen, whereby the plants gain strength, and produce better 

 flowers later on. Do not disturb any of the seedlings the first year unless overcrowded. 

 Let the whole remain till the following Spring, then take them up and replant them in 

 a soil moderately rich. This should be done in March, for if the operation be deferred 

 too long there is danger of destroying the seeds which have hitherto lain dormant, and 

 which often vegetate abundantly and very early in the second Spring. 



When transplanting, sort out the strongest plants and place them about a foot 

 apart ; the weaker ones may then be set together at less distances. After planting it 

 will be well to water and shade for a few days should there be much sun, and even to 

 cover against frost if such occur before the plants are firmly settled in the ground. 

 This may be done by sticking single boughs or Fern branches among them, or better 

 still, by the use of mats. 



In the following Summer and Autumn the flowers of many will appear. All that 

 are single or not clear in colour may be destroyed, also any where the outline is 

 irregular. But if the outline be good, the colour clear, and the flower possessed only 

 of an ordinary degree of fulness, the seedling should be preserved, even though 

 apparently inferior to varieties already known, for it has not yet passed through the 

 high routine of culture the named varieties have, and its properties are not fully 

 developed. It is often capable of great improvement. 



As the seedlings flower, whenever one strikes the fancy it should be tied up to a 

 stick, a number attached to it, and its properties entered against the number in a note- 

 book ; then watch for the leaf buds being in a good state, and bud two or three 

 stocks to prove the variety. As it would occupy too much time to bud all the seed- 

 lings, the seedling plant of any that is of doubtful merit may be grown for two or three 

 years, when its real worth will become apparent. But it should be told that budding 

 on the Dog Rose, or any free stock, enables us to form a correct opinion of a variety a 

 year or two sooner than we can do by trusting to the seedling plant. Therefore, if 

 stocks are not scarce, and the cultivator has leisure, it may be interesting to bud a 



