yo GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



Distance to Plant Bush Roses may be planted as close together as 

 14 inches in the rows, and 18 inches from row to row, but 18 inches to 

 24 inches each way is better. Many growers for exhibition prune their 

 plants severely (a practice alluded to under the head of pruning), then 

 14 inches is sufficient. Standard Roses are usually given a distance of 

 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet each way. 



Stocks for Roses. Many beginners, when ordering Roses, desire 

 them on " their own roots." It should be clearly understood what an own- 

 root Rose is : it is one raised from a cutting of any particular variety ; 

 but an ordinary bush Rose is one that is budded or grafted upon a foster 

 stock, either in the stem near the root or upon the root itself. Own-root 

 or cutting Roses are very satisfactory for some varieties, but they are not 

 always procurable. The foster stocks usually employed are the Manetti ; 

 Hedge Briars from cuttings known as the Briar-cutting ; Briars from seed 

 known as seedling briars, Hedge Briars to make Standard or Tree Roses, 

 De la Grifferaie, and Polyantha stocks. But Roses may be budded upon 

 almost any variety of Rose in fact, one could bud an old Rose all over 

 with a modem kind if so desired. Where a foster stock is used there is 

 always a danger of suckers springing up and choking, as it were, the 

 kind we desire to possess. We have known instances where Marechal 

 Niel has been planted and the plant killed by frost. The owner, however, 

 was unaware of this, and instead of the Marechal Niel he cultivated for 

 some time the stock that sprang up from the roots, and wondered why 

 it produced only tiny pink flowers instead of rich blossoms filled with 

 perfume. It may be as well to briefly describe the Manetti, Briar, 

 De la Griff eraie, and Polyantha stocks. 



The Manetti Stock cannot be mistaken for the cultivated Rose. 

 The foliage is of a tender grass-green colour, the leaves seven in number, 

 whereas most of the Hybrid Perpetual, Tea, and Hybrid Tea tribes have 

 five only ; the wood in the young sucker state is a reddish brown, and 

 the prickles of the same colour. In about two inches of its growth there 

 are two or three large prickles, interspersed among them being numerous 

 tiny prickles resembling the cylinder of a musical-box. 



The Briar Stock is so well known that it seems superfluous to 

 describe it. There are, however, many varieties of the Wild Briar, 

 some of them much resembling the Ayrshire Roses, but the usual form 

 is very prickly, the foliage of a dull dark green, and there are seven 

 leaves on a stalk. 



The De la Grifferaie Stock may deceive the novice. It has large 

 leaves like a cultivated Rose, but they have a peculiar downy appearance 

 and are purplish-green in the young state. The wood is thick and of a 

 red colour, spines large and about equal in size. The tip of the growth 

 has quite a mealy look. 



The Polyantha Stock has a flower like the Blackberry, nine leaves 

 on a stalk, very pale but dull green, and the edges are prettily notched. 

 The tip of the growth is downy, and the wood is green with brownish 

 spines. 



The Rugosa Stock. This is Rosa rugosa, a well-known garden 



