THE KOSE AND ITS CULTURE. 



211 



Fig. 17. — Dormant Rope-f^iittings, 

 by the heels at a, half covered 



in the process, to give them vertical and horizontal 

 solidity. Then raise the ground up to the level 

 of that already finished (Fig. 17). Then commence 

 digging another spit, and digging the distance 

 between the rows, proceed to cut another straight 

 edge or trench ; insert, partially cover, and tread 

 .in the cuttings as before, and so on till the whole 

 are planted. Should very severe weather ensue, 

 a few boughs or a little common bracken may 

 be placed over the cuttings ; but, as a rule, nothing- 

 whatever will be needed, as the majority of Roses 

 will withstand the severities of our ordinary winters 

 with impunity. Some insert the cuttings so deeply 

 as to leave but one or two buds above ground ; 

 others leave four or six. The first place two-thirds 

 or more of the cut- 

 tings under ground. 

 This has some advan- 

 tages, as if the sur- 

 face buds are des- 

 troyed others are 

 almost sure to break 

 from under the sur- 

 face. Some are care- 

 ful to disbud all the 

 buried portion of the 



shoot. This is labour lost, if nothing worse, for as 

 all the shoots that may come up will be Rose-shoots, 

 the more of them the better, and the more roots 

 will be formed. 



Striking Growing Shoots. — This may be 

 done in three ways — by cool treatment in the open 

 air; by warm, close treatment under 

 glass ; and by a mixture of both. 

 Rose-cuttings in leafage (see Fig. 

 18, showing cutting with a heel 

 at a) should be placed on a shady 

 border to root them successfully in 

 the open air in June, July, or 

 August. The cuttings should have 

 heels {a), and be in a condition of 

 semi - ripeness. About half the 

 length of the winter or dormant 

 cuttings is also generally thought 

 sufiicient, two leaves, or even one, 

 being as many as the cutting is 

 likely to keep fresh or green in 

 the open air at that season. 



They are often covered with 

 hand-glasses or cloches to pre- 

 serve the leaves, which may prove of the greatest 

 importance ; but if once these are applied they 

 cannot well be dispensed with until the cuttings 

 are rooted. On the whole, success is greater with- 

 out them. A few overhead sprinklings per day 



for a time are useful, and if the leaves can be 

 kept green for a week or so, the cuttings will have 

 begun to callus, and are safe. A little sand placed 

 at their base when inserted favours the rooting, and 

 is a good practice. Such cuttings should be left 

 where they are till the succeeding spring or autumn; 

 or should 1-oy root early, and be of Tea or other 

 tender varieties, they may be taken up and potted 

 within thrte months of the time of their insertion. 



Striking Summer Cuttings in Heat, — 



The cuttings in this case need not be so ripe as in 

 the other. They may also be shorter, from three 

 to five inches being long enough. Hard and firm 

 planting is equally or more important than with the 

 other classes of cut- 

 tings. Insert in pots 

 or pans, or on a 

 hot-bed, with a bot- 

 tom heat of from 

 60'' to 70°. Either 

 cover the cutting-s 

 with bell-glasses or 

 keep the house or pit 

 tolerably close. If 

 the former, wipe and 

 tilt up the glasses every day, seeing that no mildew 

 or damp settles upon or injures the leaves. 



Keep these as well as the shoots growing until 

 roots are formed. So soon as this takes place, 

 gradually give more and more air, and reduce the 

 temperature to the natural level ; or the plants may 

 be potted ofO when rooted, and pushed on imder 

 semi-tropical conditions, making the growth of 

 almost two seasons in the remaining portion of one. 

 When this plan succeeds, it is doubtless the quickest 

 of all methods of rooting Rose-cuttings. But it not 

 seldom illustrates the maxim — " The more haste, the 



showing mode of placing them- 

 at h, and wholly filled in at c. 



Fig-. 18. — Same 

 Eose-shoot as 

 Fig. 16, started 

 into Leaf. 



The Mixed Cold and Warm Method. — 



This consists in the making and inserting of the 

 cuttings in the usual way in pots, pans, or boxes, as 

 portability is essential to the success of this method. 

 Insert the cuttings, and place them in close cold pits 

 or frames, shading them from direct sunshine for a 

 fortnight, three weeks, or a month — until, in fact, 

 they begin to callus. 



So soon as this occurs, remove them into a brisk 

 bottom heat of 65°. The roots will spring forth at 

 once, and within a fortnight of their being subjected 

 to a warm regimen the Rose-plants will be fit to pot 

 off. Return for a week or ten days to their warm 

 quarters, and gradually inure to. green-house or open 

 air before the end of the spason. 



This mixed method and the first, that of inserting 



