STOCKS 



planted. Assiduous attention must be used to keep them on the 



move, and it will be found that if the ground was not really well 



dug and prepared, mildew will play havoc 



with the growth. The more thoroughly the 



soil was prepared the better will be the braird 



and the quicker and stronger the growth. At 



the end of the second year the whole are 



lifted, a fair proportion being set aside for 



planting ready for budding, the remainder 



planted back thickly for another year's 



growth. 



The great recommendation of the seedling 

 brier is its magnificent root system (see 

 Fig. 6), a far more complete and potential 

 system than can be found with cuttings. 

 Where it can be planted in a good, deep 

 soil the full benefit of this becomes apparent, 

 but it loses these advantages on shallow soils 

 where the cutting is at least its equal. The 

 finest roses it is possible to grow are on this 

 particular stock, and we imagine that the 

 growers who have best learnt to appreciate it are those whose 

 success depends very much on what they can achieve at the 

 exhibition tables. 



STANDARDS 



Stocks for standards were, until quite recently, obtained exclu- 

 sively from the woods and hedgerows, and we suppose this will 

 long remain as the English rose stock for standards. Usually 

 they are purchased from woodmen or others who obtain permission 

 from the farmers to grub them up, but it is a great pity that these 

 procurers cannot be got to understand the value of a little fibrous 

 root to each brier, for usually they are brought in absolutely 

 destitute of any vestige of it. It speaks volumes for the hardiness 

 of this native stock that so many survive what is a very cruel ordeal. 

 At the same time we think that if nurserymen would insist upon 

 their being properly grubbed, and rejected all below a certain 

 standard, there would soon be an all-round improvement. When 



FIG. 6. Seedling- 

 Brier 



