THE EOSE AND ITS CULTURE. 



215 



to make them fit perfectly, the most potent uniting 

 force, the fresh, sweet sap of the Rose, is being dried 

 up and wasted. Nothing can compensate for this 

 loss, aaid hence smart manipulation, a good fit, and 

 instantaneous tying are the surest roads to success in 

 Rose-grafting. 



Cleft grafting is the mode most generally practised 

 in the open air ; as the standard briar is almost the 

 only stock used, it is perhaps, on the whole, the best 

 for this purpose. Success would be indeed far more 

 sure and uniform were the briars, of whatever 

 height, potted up in November, and wintered under 

 glass. Or borders could be made for them in cool 

 houses in which they might be packed closely, in 

 rows of from three to six or more abreast, with 

 sufiicient space between to reach them from either 

 side. A gentle warmth of from 50'' to 60° might 

 be given in December, the stock could then be 

 worked with scions from the open air in January, 

 and the Roses be fit to plant out in the open quarters 

 towards the end of May. By these expedients most 

 of the risks and discomforts of grafting Roses in the 

 open air in March would be avoided, and the chances 

 of success greatly increased. 



Exclusion of Air and Water. — The old- 

 fashioned mode of doing this was by plastering 

 OA'-er with prepared clay that hardened into a 

 waterproof mass. But this simple and preventive 

 method has seldom or never been used for Roses, 

 inasmuch as it had been superseded by various sorts 

 of grafting- wax, before the grafting of these became 

 fashionable. And now the horticultural sundries 

 men, who undertake almost everything for culti- 

 vators, advertise all sorts of grafting -waxes or 

 ointments, most of which are tolerably efficient. 

 The danger and fault of most of them consist in 

 their being used too hot, and setting too hard. To 

 prevent the former, thrust a finger in before use. If 

 not too hot for that, it will not injure the Roses. A 

 small percentage of tallow is one of the surest 

 antidotes to a cement-like hardness. A cheap and 

 excellent grafting-wax for Roses may be made by 

 warming over a slow fire three-fourths of common 

 pitch, with another fourth consisting of equal parts 

 of resin, bees'-wax, and tallow. Apply, after test- 

 ing and proving sufficiently cool, with a worn-out 

 painter's brush, laying on the mixture thickly over 

 the crown of the stock, and smearing the tie all 

 over, and a little above and below the point of 

 union. This when cool will prove quite air and 

 water proof, and so keep the wound hermetically 

 sealed, one of the greatest aids to its rapid healing, 

 and consequently the union of scion and stock. 



Dwarf Roses grafted in-doors are seldom waxed 

 or cemented over. By working these low down 



the stems, or even on the roots, the spliced por- 

 tion may generally be more or less covered over 

 with earth, and thereby be kept in good condition 

 for forming a soimd and healthy union. There 

 are also other advantages in thus grafting close 

 to or on the roots. The scion, as a rule, under 

 such conditions forms independent roots of its own, 

 which very often finally supersede the roots of the 

 stock. In such cases the latter serve more of a 

 temporary than a permanent purpose. They support 

 the scion to form a union with the stock, and help it 

 to form roots of its own, and then disappear, or sink 

 into a condition of secondary importance. 



But of course in the dwarf standards, or even 

 dwarfs, worked a few inches above the ground, this 

 mode of burying the point of union, and borrow- 

 ing the roots of the stock for a temporary purpose, 

 cannot be adopted, and all such grafts may be waxed 

 over in the usual way. This, however, may be safely 

 dispensed with when the plants are grafted in a 

 moist atmosphere, and kept in heat and moistui-e 

 till the scions have taken. 



Sometimes the wax sets so hard that it needs 

 considerable force to remove it. Great care must be 

 taken not to disturb or displace the scion in the 

 process. Should the ligatures not have rotted, they 

 must be removed. If the union is complete, all is 

 well ; if not, give a second tie, and keep the scion 

 firmly in position, and prevent the slit in the bark 

 from opening. 



PROPAGATION BT LATHES. 

 This process consists in forcing the branches to 

 form roots while still fed by the parent plant. It 

 is one of the oldest, simplest, surest means of 

 propagation. It can only be practised on- dwarf, 

 climbing, or weeping Roses, and the latter must 

 droop so far as to touch the ground. But as all 

 Roses do not root with equal freedom, there are 

 different modes of procedure. Some merely thrust 

 a spade into the ground at a convenient distance 

 from a dwarf Rose, remove a large spadeful of earth, 

 bend a Rose-shoot into the hole, place the earth on the 

 top of the shoot, stamp it down firmly, and thus finish 

 layering. (See Fig. 24.) Others make a deep slit, 

 by thrusting in the spade, moving it backwards and 

 forwards, place the shoot in the slit, and tread it firmly 

 in. A stone is frequently placed on the centre of the 

 shoot, to make all more secure. A third plan insures 

 greater stability, and lessens the risk of disturbance 

 until safely rooted, by the use of wooden or wire pegs 

 thrust down over the shoots to keep them immovable 

 until rooted. These are what may be called the more 

 rough-and-ready modes of layering Roses, and they 

 answer fairly well for most of the free-rooting 

 varieties. But many of the more choice Roses root 



