THE CULTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ROSES. 
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rubbed off. These branches, when grown 
another season, will stretch out the head on 
all sides to a respectable size, and enable 
you to thin out the weak wood, and cut 
back the strong ; so that, instead of having 
the head pimping and small, it may bear a 
proportion to the stem; for, as we have said 
before, the head ought to be as wide across 
as the stem is long from the ground, to the 
under part of the head. There is one thing 
to be observed with regard to Standards on 
their own bottom, they never break off, nor 
decay, nor canker, half so much as budded 
and grafted ones. 
THE ROOT-GRAFTING OF THE ROSE. 
It will be always found in a plantation of 
Roses that suckers spring up in abundance 
from the roots ; these would soon rob the 
head or worked part of great portion of its 
nourishment; but these suckers are useful when 
taken off with a good portion of root to them, 
because there is not a more certain mode of 
propagating the Rose than neatly grafting a 
piece of the wood of a Rose on the root just 
under the surface; the union is almost certain, 
if at all dexterously done. The proper mode 
of doing this is to pull up the sucker, which 
will expose the root some distance, and take 
off a good piece of root with it from the parent 
stock; cut the sucker completely off to the 
part that was on the surface of the ground ; 
get a piece of the wood of a Rose as nearly 
the size of the root as possible, cut a slit in 
the root, making both cuts smooth and flat 
inside; then cut the scion wedge fashion, and 
make the bark fit even with the outer cuticle 
of the root ; tie them well together, and plant 
them so that the entire graft goes under the 
surface of the ground. These root grafts are 
excellent for dwarf plants, for they are worked 
actually under ground, and when well done 
will make excellent plants. Grafting the Rose- 
is not chosen before budding; but, as there is 
always a good deal of waste wood in a Rose- 
tree that has to come off in spring, many 
give grafting a chance; and of grafting, root- 
grafting is one of the most effective. There 
is never any scarcity of roots among a collec- 
tion of Roses ; forking the ground a little 
brings up these straggling shoots; and so that 
there be a good piece of healthy stuff, there 
is no difficulty in making a good job. There 
is no occasion to clay over the join in root- 
grafting.. There is another advantage in root- 
grafting: it is applicable with the China kinds 
all the season through, if you make sure of a 
healthy root; nor is there any difficulty in 
obtaining proper roots for the purpose. 
Wherever a sucker comes up through the 
ground, use a fork and take up as much root 
as you think such a plant ought to have ; the 
operation must be performed quickly, and 
with a very sharp knife, for the root must not 
dry under the operation, and they must be 
planted directly. The graft need not be put in 
in wedge fashion: any other way is as good, if 
the join be smooth, well fitted, and tied firmly ; 
but we do not recommend grafting of any 
kind as the best means of propagation. 
Nothing is so simple as budding, and scarcely 
anything so efficacious. The propagators of 
Roses by root-grafting are very apt to grow 
the suckers in pots for a considerable time, so 
that they get completely established after being 
broken away from the parent root, before they 
are submitted to the operation of grafting, and 
this becomes then almost a matter of certainty; 
whereas we have known the roots of suckers 
bleed so much, that we have lost the root, and 
been indebted to the graft striking root for 
not losing it altogether. 
PROPAGATION BY SUCKERS. 
Many Roses, indeed most of them growing 
on their own roots, instead of by grafting on a 
stock, constantly spread at the roots, and 
branches force their way up, much to the 
annoyance sometimes of the men in charge of 
the Rosery. In the spring months these 
suckers should be looked for, and when found, 
they should be taken off at once, far enough 
under ground to get a piece of root with them. 
These should be, instantly on the removal, 
replanted ; but if a piece be planted out, 
and devoted to propagation, the proper method 
is to dig up the plants in autumn, tracing the 
roots as far as they go, and taking the portions 
which have been growing above ground out 
at the same time. Some kinds will have half- 
a-dozen, or more, perfect plants, which have 
been formed by the spreading at the root, and 
the end growing up through the surface. 
These suckers should be trimmed and planted 
carefully, at such distance as the sizes warrant; 
generally in rows a yard apart, and the plants 
eighteen inches from each other. Here they 
have in spring to be cut down to within three 
or four eyes of the ground. 
PROPAGATION BY LAYERS. 
The Rose will propagate from layers. To 
do this, some merely select a lower branch, 
and bending the wood sharp between two 
