SHRUBBY AND SUB- SHRUBBY FLOWERS. 155 



roses may be propagated by cuttings ; in practice, non- 

 professional gardeners find certain kinds, such as the 

 Mosses, the Provence, and the Cabbage Yellow, of 

 a difficulty which approaches the impossible. Many 

 Hybrids, the Bourbons, the Chinas, the Noisettes, and 

 others, strike readily, especially if assisted by a hand-light 

 and bottom -heat. Species, like the Cabbage Yellow, 

 which will neither bud nor strike well, must be increased 

 by layers, the shoot being "tongued." The grafting of 

 roses is mostly practised by market-gardeners, for forcing 

 for sale. Immediately the stocks are taken from the 

 hedges in January or February, they may be grafted 

 and potted in the forcing-house, or in a gentle hotbed in 

 a common frame. But by far the most prevalent mode 

 of propagation is by budding on the Rosa Canina, or 

 common Dog Hose, which is much the best for general 

 purposes. Others, as the Rosa Manettii (a rampant 

 variety raised in Italy), the Boiirsanlts, the R. alba, and 

 the Common China, have been recommended for special 

 purposes by high authority ; in which advice the writer 

 takes the liberty of cautioning the reader not to place 

 too much confidence. The robust "Red, Red Rose" of 

 Scotland, which grows so vigorously in the valleys of the' 

 Grampians, merits a fair and extensive trial as a stock 

 whereon to bud vigorous varieties. Wild rose stocks are 

 now an article of commerce. By giving an order to 

 proper persons, you may obtain a supply to any reason- 

 able amount. The nearer home they are found, and the 

 sooner they are replanted in your nursery the better. 

 November is the month of months for the purpose. Let 

 them be clean-stemmed, well-rooted, and taken from an 

 exposed situation. Remove all straggling roots and 

 whatever is likely to sprout into suckers. Plant them 

 at exactly the same depth as you observe them to have 

 grown in their native site. Pasten each individual stock 

 either to a stake of its own, or to a long horizontal twig 

 supported at each end by two upright posts. In spring, 

 watch the swelling buds that show themselves the whole 

 way up the stem. "When they are about a quarter of an 



