70 



ROSE STOCKS. 



especially as its leaves are greedily eaten by cattle, as well as its 

 tubers. 



Its cultivation will now be discontinued in the Society's garden, 

 and the stock of tubers there will be distributed among such 

 Fellows of the Society as may wish to try it as an agricultural 

 plant. 



VIII. — Rose Stocks. By John Saul, Durdham Down Nursery, 



Bristol. 



(Communicated November 24, 1849.) 



At no period perhaps in the history of gardening have roses 

 been cultivated to such an extent as they are at the present day : 

 formerly the nurserymen grew them by hundreds, or it may be 

 with a few, and these very few, by one or two thousands, which, 

 of course, was considered to be an immense number. But now 

 they are not grown by hundreds, but by hundreds of thousands, 

 in the large nurseries of this country ; and contemporary with 

 their extended cultivation has been the rapid improvement in 

 their flowers. Formerly we had roses in June, now we have 

 them not in June or July only, but in September. October, and 

 down to December, when in vain they struggle against the 

 wintry blast : these are equal, indeed I may say superior, to June 

 roses in every r point which constitutes a beautiful and fragrant 

 flower. A good Yellow is, however, yet wanted, as well as White 

 Perpetuals, some good Mosses, and one or two of other co- 

 lours to make them perfect. We certainly have Perpetual 

 Mosses, but they are not good flowers, with the exception of one, 

 and that is a bad grower — so bad that I would recommend no 

 amateur to purchase it ; those who have tried it have in general 

 been disappointed with it. 



My object on the present occasion, however, is to draw atten- 

 tion to the different kinds of stocks upon which roses are gene- 

 rally worked in the nurseries — a point of no little [importance 

 when we consider that upon the stock much of the future well- 

 being of the plant depends. In the ' Theory of Horticulture ' 

 we are told that u mere propagation is by no means the only 

 object of the grafter [substitute budder]. Another and still 

 more important one is to secure a permanent union between the 

 scion and stock, so that the new plant may r grow as freely and as 

 long as if it were on its own bottom under the most favour- 

 able circumstances. If this is not attended to, the hopes of the 

 cultivator will be frustrated by the early death of his plant." 

 This is perfectly true of roses. Many cultivators take strong, 

 vigorous storks, such as Crimson Boursault, Celine, and others, 



