Propagation Budding. 175 



measure on the season. The practised hand will cut and raise the bark to ascertain 

 when it parts freely from the wood, the tyro will find a criterion in the prickles. If 

 slight pressure cause them to separate from the bark, the stocks are in good order, 

 and the fitness of the shoots or scions may be ascertained by the same test. If the 

 weather be hot and sunny, morning and evening are the best hours for budding. A 

 July sun pouring down his rays upon the operator is not altogether pleasant, and in 

 regard to the operation does not increase the chances of success. The shoot from 

 which the buds are to be taken should not be cut from the tree till we are ready for 

 action, and the less time that elapses between the different branches of the work the 

 better ; the bud should be cut out, inserted, and tied up in as short a time as possible. 



The Wild Roses are sometimes budded in the hedges where they grow, which is 

 called " Hedge-budding." If it be intended to remove them afterwards to the flower- 

 garden, the practice is not worthy of attention ; it is far better to transfer them as 

 stocks, and bud those which grow after removal. But if done with the view of 

 ornamenting parks, &c., by leaving the plants in the hedges, the idea is a good one. 

 Bud them as heretofore described, taking care to eradicate suckers, which usually 

 arise here in great abundance and soon starve the plants if left unchecked. 



4. GRAFTING. It is sometimes asked whether grafted Roses are equal to budded 

 ones ? When the junction becomes perfect they are, in my opinion, quite as good ; 

 but the scion and stock do not always thoroughly coalesce, owing to which more 

 imperfect plants are raised by this mode than by any other. 



In selecting stocks for grafting, whether they be Manetti, De la Grifferaie, or Dog- 

 Roses, they should be secured of various sizes ; the majority, however, should be 

 rather thicker than an ordinary cedar pencil. It is well to pot them in 6o-sized pots 

 one year before required for use. The best time for grafting Roses in pots is January, 

 and the stocks should be placed in bottom-heat a week or ten days beforehand. 

 Nearly all kinds will succeed grafted, but the hard-wooded ones do the best. The 

 forms most generally practised are (i) Cleft-grafting, (2) Wedge-grafting, and (3) 

 Whip-grafting. 



i. CLEFT-GRAFTING. We shall first describe and illustrate this mode, and after- 

 wards refer briefly to the others (see Fig. 56). Here the stocks should be larger than 

 the scions. The latter, which may be taken from the plants as required for use, 

 should be well-ripened shoots cut into lengths of about an inch and a-half. The tops 

 of shoots are seldom fitted for scions ; two-thirds of their length is, generally speaking, 

 as much as can be used with advantage. Each scion should have two, three, or four 

 buds two are sufficient to produce a fine plant. In performing the operation, first 

 cut the stock quite level at the top, then insert the point of the knife at a, drawing it 

 down towards the root in an oblique direction. Now make a corresponding cut, com- 

 mencing at c, so that the two cuts terminate in a point b. Thus a piece of the stock 

 is cut out, and the opening made is in the form of the letter V. With regard to the 



