TEA-SCENTED ROSES. 



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The best stocks on which to grow Tea-scented Roses success- 

 fully are three in number — namely, briar-seedling, briar-cutting, 

 and Polyantha-cutting. I should perhaps specify that by briar I 

 mean the common Dog-Rose (Rosa canina) of our hedges, and by 

 Polyantha the rampant Japanese species, which, although gene- 

 rally known under this name, ought properly to be called Rosa 

 multiflora. Of the two forms of briar-stock, seedling and cutting, 

 if I were buying I should choose plants on the seedling, though 

 I might find it difficult to give very precise reasons for the 

 preference, as both forms of dwarf briar-stock are good, and on 

 either fine plants may be obtained ; but if I were planting stocks 

 to bud myself I should be more disposed to plant briar-cuttings, 

 for there is no denying that the seedlings are not a little tedious 

 to bud, with their thin bark, and stems often crooked. The 

 chief difference between the seedling and cutting briars lies in 

 the form of the root- stock, which in the case of the seedling 

 consists mainly of a powerful central root that goes straight 

 downwards into the soil, whereas the roots of the cutting are 

 disposed more horizontally in a circle that has for its centre the 

 base of the cutting ; so that in all probability the cutting would 

 prove the best stock to grow on a shallow soil, while on deep 

 land, whether heavy or light, the preferable stock of the two 

 would be the seedling-briar. 



It is, however, a constant source of wonder to me that 

 nurserymen do not more largely cultivate the Polyantha-cuttings 

 for Tea Roses. This stock I have made use of for the past nine 

 years, with annually increasing satisfaction. I have plants on it 

 that were budded in 1882, both of Teas and Hybrids, including 

 Comtesse de Nadaillac, Etoile de Lyon, and Victor Verdier, 

 which are still among the best plants of the varieties that I 

 possess. Briar-seedlings are admittedly somewhat troublesome 

 to bud; briar-cuttings are found by some people (though I own 

 this has never been my experience) difficult to propagate; 

 Polyantha-cuttings are neither. They root even more quickly 

 and certainly than Manetti, their stems are always straight and 

 smooth and easy to bud on, they grow luxuriantly on light or 

 on heavy soil, and, moreover, they do not get smothered with 

 mildew in the quarters, as do briar-seedlings (especially in the 

 young state) and de la Grifferaie ; the last-named, a stock of 

 great vigour, which it may perhaps be well to mention as one 



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