CHAPTER III 

 PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS 



THE rose is propagated in three different ways : (i) by cuttings ; 

 (2) by budding ; (3) by grafting, and if we proceed to consider 

 these in their proper order we may avoid going twice over the same 

 ground. There are two different methods by which plants are 

 raised from cuttings, one is by making cuttings from young, firm 

 wood taken from indoor plants in May and early June, 

 inserting them in pots and striking them in heat ; the 

 other is by making cuttings from well-matured, ripe wood 

 in October and striking them in the open. As it will be 

 necessary to refer to the former when dealing with roses 

 in pots it might be convenient if we defer our consider- 

 ation of that method until then. We will deal now with 

 the more generally practised method of autumn cuttings 

 in the open. 



Some varieties lend themselves much more readily to 

 propagation by cuttings than do others, being hardier and 

 of a more robust and woody growth. Most of the hybrid 

 perpetuals are what we would call good subjects, but only 

 a few of the more tender tea roses lend themselves to it. 

 The hybrid teas come midway between the two, such 

 strong growers as Caroline Testout and Killarney and 

 similar varieties responding well. Most of the so-called 

 pillar roses root freely, the rambling Wichuraianas par- 

 ticularly so, and we find this is the best and most 

 satisfactory way of growing them. To bud them is to 

 waste stocks. 



The cuttings should be made in the early autumn ^ ?^ e 

 October when the wood is hard and ripe, not by severely 

 mauling the plants, but by removing from them some of the 

 hard growths they can spare without detriment to themselves. 

 These are cut into lengths of from 7 to 9 inches, the bottom cut 

 being level just below an eye, and the top cut being slightly aslant 

 and immediately above an eye (see Fig. i). Soft, pithy wood is 



