304 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



rather to be avoided, since the few Eoses that will thrive on 

 it do no better than on dwarf briar or on Polyantha-stocks, 

 even if, as has been sometimes contended is the case with 

 the Dijon Teas, they do as well ; and the stock itself is such 

 a mildew-trap as to be quite a nuisance in the budding-ground. 

 I have many groups of plants of the leading varieties of Teas 

 on Polyantha-cutting stocks in various situations and of various 

 ages, all thriving admirably ; while it is noticeable that one 

 can obtain larger plants of Teas on Poly antha- stocks in a 

 shorter time than on briars, especially on poor soil. 



"With a view to ascertaining their value as stocks, I have 

 lately been budding on seedling plants of numerous other 

 species of Eoses in addition to Polyantha, including B. rugosa, 

 B. consjncua, B. rubrifolia, &c; and while my experiments have 

 as yet been neither on a sufficiently extensive scale nor suf- 

 ficiently prolonged to enable me to speak at all definitely, I 

 may mention that I have some good plants^of Teas on seed- 

 lings of B. rugosa and B. conspicua. 



There is no necessity, however, to await the demonstration 

 of the value of additional stocks for the cultivation of Tea- 

 scented Eoses. We have three that are admirably adapted to 

 their requirements, and whether on briar- seedlings, briar- 

 cuttings, or Polyantha- stocks, Teas ought nowadays to be cul- 

 tivated without difficulty in every garden. For it is a fact that, 

 budded on these dwarf stocks, the Teas are [the easiest of all 

 Eoses to grow ; they require less attention, less knowledge, and 

 less consideration in the matter of soil than any other Eoses. 

 They may be pruned anyhow — or even not at all ; after a mild 

 winter, when the wood has been little harmed by frost, then the 

 plants, whether they are left unpruned or whether they are cut 

 hardback like Hybrid Perpetuals, will in either case afford a fine 

 crop of their beautiful flowers ; and if the winter may have been 

 severe, it only remains, when the plants start into growth in 

 spring, to cut away with a secateur the dead sticks — an opera- 

 tion requiring no special skill ! Then, again, in the case of 

 dwarf Teas grown in the open, there is never anything like the 

 trouble with grubs, or with greenfly, or even^(except in the case 

 of Etoile de Lyon) with mildew, that is experienced with other 

 kinds of Eoses. Moreover, the Teas, as a class, are the earliest 

 of all Eoses to begin flowering and the [last to£ieave oif, and. 



