570 Cultivation of Plants. 
third would exclude standard Rose-trees from the garden, to 
say nothing of the difference of opinion regarding the different 
styles of flower-gardening. But this should not deter planters 
from employing these things in moderation, and in appropriate 
situations. An excess of variegated plants, or a garden full of 
standard Roses, should be avoided, as well as any other inconsis- 
tency ; and few persons would think of forming a plantation of 
weeping trees, such as one occasionally sees in a burial ground. 
It is unnecessary for us to describe the process of budding, as 
it is one of the first things to which a young hand takes a 
fancy; but we may caution the inexperienced to loosen the 
ligatures before they have injured the growing bark. The in- 
cision should not be made deeper than the bark, nor longer 
than the inserted bud. For standard Roses, the buds are 
better inserted in the lateral branches, as close to the main 
stem as possible, than in the main stem itself, as they form 
more equal-sided heads. Dwarf or bush Roses are either grafted, 
or budded, or on their own roots. Plants of the latter descrip- 
tion are preferable, as there are no foreign suckers developed ; 
but some varieties do not succeed so well on their own roots as 
they do when worked upon a more vigorous stock. The Rosa 
Manetti, a variety of unknown descent, is usually employed as 
a stock for dwarf Roses. Like most of the climbing Roses, it 
readily strikes root from cuttings in the open ground. Orna- 
mental shrubs and trees are usually budded in the main stem 
of the stock, which should be cut off immediately above the 
inserted bud as soon as the latter has made a shoot from six 
inches to a foot long; and the shoot being trained upright will 
form a straight stem, and quickly overgrow the point of union. 
Weeping and some other trees grown as standards are worked 
on stems of convenient height, according to what is desired. 
The season for budding depends entirely upon the weather ; 
but any time when the bark separates freely from the wood will 
answer. Roses, if budded during the first growth, frequently 
start, and even flower, the same season; but the buds of most 
other things remain dormant until the following spring. 
Layering is resorted to for those trees and shrubs that will 
readily root in this way, but which are not sure from indepen- 
dent slips or cuttings, such as the Elm, Lime, Laurustinus, 
Aucuba, Portugal Laurel, etc. This operation is very simple: 
the branches of the parent plant being bent down, partially 
severed, and fixed in the soil, where they will strike root in one 
