188 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



other varieties there was little to choose between the three 

 stocks. 



I find that roses budded on these stocks flower, as a rule, in 

 the following order. First come those on the Manetti, then those 

 on the briar-cutting, and lastly those on the seedling-briar. 



For Tea roses I have found the briar-cutting and seedling- 

 briar excellent stocks. In dry seasons the latter has the advan- 

 tage, and in wet ones the briar-cutting. The dwarf standard 

 briar also suits many Teas admirably, and some even better than 

 either the seedling or cutting, and has the further advantage of 

 keeping the blooms from getting splashed during heavy rains. 

 It is of course, however, unsuitable for very cold districts, and is 

 less enduring than dwarf briars. The standard briar also suits 

 certain varieties of H.P.s better than any other stock. 



The question of stocks is a more complicated one than would 

 at first appear, for in order to obtain the best results the soil 

 must not only suit the stock, but the rose budded on it must 

 work harmoniously with that stock. The character of the sub- 

 soil has also almost as important an influence as the surface soil. 

 I may state in passing that there are a few kinds of H.P.s 

 which refuse to grow with me at all on any of the dwarf stocks 

 I have mentioned. 



I had intended to touch on the subject of soils and their 

 suitability to different stocks, but have thought it advisable, on 

 more mature consideration, to confine myself entirely to a simple 

 statement of my own experiences ; for in discussing a matter of 

 this kind, I think you will all agree with me that one grain of 

 fact is worth any number of pounds of theory. My experiments 

 have, I trust, proved useful as far as they have gone. I can 

 only regret now that they could not be carried out on a 

 larger scale. I am pleased, however, to hear from Messrs. 

 Cocker, of Aberdeen, that they have during the last few years 

 been testing stocks on similar lines to my own, and that they 

 have arrived at some very interesting results, which will appear 

 in the returns recently sent in to this Society.* If other 

 nurserymen and amateurs in different parts of the Kingdom 

 would only follow their excellent example, we should then at no 

 very distant date be in a position to arrive at some more definite 

 and satisfactory conclusions than in the present state of our 

 knowledge is possible. 



* Vide p. 298. 



