512 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



been almost abandoned, since budding on the Brier stock' is quicker and 

 gives a much greater number of plants. 



Cuttings from Ripened Wood. — Of all the different ways recom- 

 mended for multiplying Eoses, the best is that of employing shoots of 

 ripened wood furnished with leaves. These cuttings are easy to strike 

 in the open air as soon as the Eoses have finished blooming, that is to 

 say, from June to November ; this allows of several sets of cuttings being 

 made from the same plant. At the end of June the temperature out- 

 doors is such as to make it possible to do without either hotbed or green- 

 house. 



Some people only begin to make cuttings of Eoses in September, 

 which is in fact one of the best times of the year, and that in which 

 cuttings may be made by the least skilful workmen. But by taking 

 certain precautions, and by knowing how to choose the right shoots to 

 strike, one gains by beginning to make cuttings in June. Besides, we 

 can work for a longer time in increasing several varieties of Tea Eoses, 

 and, above all, the old ' Souvenir de la Malmaison,' which is always in 

 great demand. 



Choice of Cuttings. — Those branches are good for cuttings in which 

 the flower-bud is ready to open : this state may last for a longer or 

 shorter time, and its duration varies with the fertility of the soil and its 

 moisture, and also with the variety of Eose. As long as the eyes near 

 the flower have not begun to start into growth, the branch which bears 

 the flower is fit for a cutting. But when these eyes sprout to make other 

 branches, it is with few exceptions a fairly certain sign that the branch 

 is no longer any good for a cutting ; it is better then to leave such 

 subsidiary shoots to develop, and wait until they are themselves fit to 

 strike. 



Method of Operating. — Mons. Charles Grosdemange, in an article 

 entitled "Culture of the Eose on its own Boots," has summed up in a 

 very clear way the different operations in making cuttings. It is one of 

 the best articles on this subject amongst the many that have been 

 written. I shall reproduce it here, with notes where I do not entirely 

 agree with the author : — 



Soil and Position. — The soil used in striking Roses should be of a siliceous 

 nature, and is made up of two-thirds fine river-sand with a little earth in it, one-third 

 Fontainebleau leaf mould mixed with its own bulk of well-rotted manure from an old 

 hotbed.* 



The position of my striking-bed is between rows of Biota orientalis, 2£ metres 

 high and 2.j metres apart. Thanks to this width, I can make the bed 1| metre 

 wide and furnish it with three rows of bell-glasses, having a clearance of -05 of a 

 metre each way. A | -metre pathway is left on either side, and allows me easily to 

 get at the bell-glasses, and shade or give them air when necessary f 



When the time arrives for making cuttings I prepare the bed in the following 

 manner :— I make an even trench, 20 centimetres deep, edging its borders with deal 



* The nature of the soil is of small importance as regards the throwing out of 

 roots. The best compost to employ is that which just holds the cuttings firm and 

 allows the water to drain through. Pure sand containing a small amount of clay is 

 to be recommended. Leaf mould and hotbed soil are of very doubtful utility.— V-M. 



t My idea of the best striking bed is a border running from east to west, shaded 

 by a wall which keeps the sun off the bell-glasses. — V-M. 



