SOS ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



Staking and Training Standard Bases. All standard roses above 2 ft. high 

 require to be supported by stakes ; otherwise, when the head is loaded with 

 leaves and flowers, it is very apt to be blown to one side, and either to be- 

 come unsightly, or, probably, to be broken off. In country places, where wood 

 is abundant, the stakes may be formed of poles or rods cut out of coppice- 

 wood, or the thinnings of young plantations; and, of the former, those of 

 the larch, the oak, and the ash will commonly be found to be the most 

 durable. Where the thinnings of young plantations are employed for 

 stakes, the most durable will be those of the larch ; and, where roses are 

 grown extensively in the country, the most economical mode of staking them 

 would be, to make plantations of larches from time to time, planted close 

 together, and to cut them down, as wanted, when of the proper size. 

 Where neatness and permanence are desirable objects, however, nothing can 

 equal the stakes of cast and wrought iron, manufactured by Cottam and 

 Hallen of London, and R. Mallet of Dublin. These stakes will be found 

 described and figured, and their weight and prices given, in the Gardener's 

 Mdgazine, vol. viii. p. 556. ; and it will be sufficient here to mention, that, 

 in lengths of 7 ft., a dozen of them will weigh 1081b., and cost 13s., if the 

 stakes are formed wholly of cast iron ; while, if formed of wrought-iron rods 

 let into cast-iron sockets, and varying in size from 2 ft. to 6 ft. 6 in., they 

 will cost from 2s. to 10*. 6d. per dozen. A considerable saving in the 

 material used in these stakes is made by easting the sockets with flanches, 

 or fins, fig. 532. 6, and also by casting the entire rod with fins, as in fig. 

 532. a. These stakes are calculated for roses which are to have their heads 

 closely cut in : but the Noisettes, and various kinds of China roses, produce 

 most effect when the shoots are allowed to grow to the length of 2 ft. or 

 3 ft., or more, from the stem. To train these shoots into a regular head, 

 stakes with ring or parasol tops, such as fig. 533. or fig. 534., are useful. 

 In general, these stakes should not be fixed till after the roses have been 

 planted two or three years, and have acquired strength sufficient to form 

 a handsome head the first year the stake is placed beside them. When 

 such a stake as fig. 533. is fixed in the ground, the ring at the top should 

 stand about 1 in. or 2 in. higher than the top of the stock. This ring is 

 fastened to the two iron limbs of the standard by nuts, and is unscrewed, and 

 hung on one of the limbs while the standard is being fixed ; it is then raised 

 to its place under the branches of the tree, which, as already observed, 

 should be sufficient in number and length to extend over the ring. Mr. Law- 

 rence, of the Querns near Cirencester, who appears first to have adopted 

 this mode of training, selects six or eight of the strongest shoots in spring, 

 and ties them to the ring with tow twine ; and if^ from their length, this be 

 not sufficient to prevent the shoots from blowing about, he ties strings to the 

 ring, and extends them to pegs stuck in the ground. All the other shoots of 

 the head are cut back in the usual manner. Fig. 546. is an accurate sketch, 

 taken in 1831, from a bizarre de la Chine rose, which was at that time six 

 years planted. It is needless to say, that it formed a truly splendid object. 

 Those who dislike the appearance of the strings may adopt, as a substitute for 

 them, the parasol stake, (fig. 534.) In the gardens at Gunnersbury, climbing 

 roses of the more choice kinds are trained on wire domes, or demi-globes, or 

 demi-ovals, 4 ft. or 5 ft. in height, and are found to produce an excellent effect. 

 The wire rods are about a quarter of an inch in thickness. 



Removing Suckers and Side Buds from the Stocks on which Boscs are worked 

 is an operation which should not be neglected. It has been remarked by Du- 

 mont, that suckers, when at a distance from the stem of the rose, do not 

 appear to injure the plant ; which, indeed, is the case with the suckers of all 

 trees or shrubs that come up at a distance from the stem ; this being one of 

 the modes of propagation which nature has supplied to a considerable num- 

 ber of plants, both ligneous and herbaceous : but suckers from the base of 

 the stem, and shoots from the stem itself, are less injurious in the case of 

 the grafted rose, than in that of most other grafted plants. The reason is, or 



