48 PROPAGATION OF THE ROSE. 



frame room, to put them in when potted, because it gives an oppor- 

 tunity of shading, of keeping off too much wet, protecting them 

 against wind, and of fumigating without the least difficulty, when 

 necessary. They should, however, seldom have the glasses on. 



After the seedlings have been five or six weeks in these pots, they 

 may be bedded out, in rich beds of loam and dung, without disturbing 

 the balls ; they should be about a foot apart, in beds of four feet wide; 

 by planting within six inches of the side of the bed, four rows will go 

 in, and they will here grow rapidly. Before the close of the budding 

 season, many will have grown quite large enough to bud from ; and 

 the most promising may be cut back, and three or four buds put on 

 remarkably strong stocks. Select a strong branch for budding on, 

 and at first, you must let some portion of the 'branch beyond the bud 

 be left on to grow ; a very small shoot beyond the bud will do to 

 insure the growth. These buds will strike off vigorously the next 

 season, and make considerable growth ; but before the bud has shot 

 far, cut the stock away everywhere but the portions budded on. The 

 growth they will make this summer on strong stocks will insure their 

 Uoom the next season; and, as the real object is to see if the Rose be 

 good for anything, they should not be pruned, except so far as to cut 

 away weak branches altogether ; by leaving the full length of the 

 strong shoots, the blooms will be hastened. 



In the mean time, those in the bed may be treated as directed ; and 

 though not generally the case under the present management, they 

 have bloomed these years on their own bottoms, though there were 

 a great number much later than the third year, and some even went 

 to the fifth. This mode of budding the promising seedlings hastens 

 the certainty of bloom very much, as it is very rare indeed that they 

 mis*, coming the third year. If they are worth propagating, the 

 budding greatly increases the quantity of wood to work from. If, on 

 the contrary, they turn out good for nothing, the instant you discover 

 It, cut away all the wood, and the stocks will, in all probability, grow 

 in time for budding other sorts upon the same season you discover 

 the deficiency of those already worked. In this way, without incur- 

 ring much trouble, you may satisfy yourself as to the quality of seed- 

 lings for a certainty the third year ; therefore, you should provide 

 yourself with stocks for that purpose, whenever you sow seedlings. 

 For China sorts, you should have some stocks of the common China., 



