VII 



STOCKS 



103 



as the union is universally acknowledged to be a failure, 

 the principal varieties of Roses may now be obtained of 

 those nurserymen who make them a specialty upon the 

 four recognized stocks — standards, briar cuttings, briar 

 seedlings, and manetti. Which shall we choose ? 



The advantages and disadvantages of the standard 

 stock may be summed up as follows. It does very well 

 for the old-fashioned summer Roses of the Hybrid China 

 and Bourbon races, where a fine head and a grand mass 

 of bloom just in the season is desired, but is not suitable 

 for the Mosses, Austrians, and the majority of the 

 other kinds that bloom but once. It is also a good 

 stock for most of the H.P.s, forming large heads with 

 the strong-growing sorts, and perhaps producing more 

 refined flowers from those which are inclined to be 

 coarse. For a time, the weaker-growing varieties also 

 do well on this form of stock, perhaps even better than 

 as dwarfs, but only the very hardiest and most vigorous 

 are as lasting on the standard as are properly planted 

 specimens on the cutting and seedling briar. 



A majority of all sorts of Teas, Hybrid Teas and 

 Noisettes give better and finer flowers on standard than 

 on dwarf stocks. The natural idea would be to have the 

 stronger forms of Teas, such as Marie van Houtte and 

 Anna Olivier, as standards, and those of weaker growth, 

 such as Comtesse de Nadaillac and Cleopatra, as dwarfs. 

 As regards the outward appearance of the plants, when 

 first put in, this would be correct : but experience shows 

 that some of the more vigorous Teas do as well on dwarfs 

 as on standard stocks, and that the weaker ones, though 

 they do not seem suited for the position, and look very 

 poor upon standard stems, yet give the best flowers 

 when grown in that form. It has been observed, indeed, 

 that the weak growers, both among H.P.s and Teas, are 



