CUTTINGS 189 



soil, the cuttings are trodden in firmly, and the trench 

 is finally fiUed in. It is most necessary that the cut- 

 tings should be made firm at the base. A border at the 

 foot of a wall facing north or east is an excellent position 

 for rose cuttings, or they may be in the open garden. 

 They should be placed six or eight inches apart and pre- 

 ferably left undisturbed untU October of the next year. 

 If then transplanted to permanent positions they will 

 form excellent plants the following summer. This is 

 undoubtedly the method to adopt to ensure a high per- 

 centage of successes, and therefore to be commended. 



An unorthodox and, I am afraid, rather a shpshod 

 way (though nevertheless somewhat surprisingly suc- 

 cessful at times) is, whenever and wherever you cut a 

 shoot off a rose tree, to " stick " it in the ground. A 

 friend of mine who has a garden full of roses vows that 

 he has raised scores of them in this way ; and roses 

 (some roses, that is) are so accommodating, and garden- 

 ing generally is so full of delightful surprises, that every 

 shoot you thus " stick in," may take root and flourish 

 in spite of you. On the other hand, all may take offence 

 and, paying you back in your own coin, shrivel and die. 

 So, according to whether you incline to the orthodox 

 or the heterodox, choose and take the consequences. 



Another simple way to grow your own roses — ^the 

 very simplest, in fact, in so far as it demands the mini- 

 mum of care and labour — ^is to prepare the cuttings as 

 already advised, and merely place them in a wide-mouthed 

 bottle of water, placed on a sunny shelf in the green- 

 house. This method is only to be recommended for 



