318 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 24, 1884. 
or rot, while those left in the original seedbed are frequently 
much injured by both.” And further on in the same article, 
“ Possibly the soot puddle may also be beneficial, by tending to 
repel the larvae till the bulbs be too strong to be attacked.” 
Have the readers of the Journal found that transplanted Onions 
are free from grub ? I live in a district where nearly every 
cottager has an allotment garden, and nearly everyone thinks 
he knows all about the Onion grub. One ascribes his freedom 
from the pest to transplanting, another to the fact that he never 
stirs his Onion beds after the seed is sown more deeply than is 
necessary to cut down weeds. I remember some years ago 
reading and making a memorandum of an article in a gardening 
paper in which the writer stated that mulching between the rows 
of Carrots and Onions with short grass would effectually prevent 
damage by grubs. This remedy I have tried and found wanting. 
While reading the article on Onions in the “ Encyclopedia ” 
I thought there might be some truth in it, as in transplanting 
these the bulb is carefully kept above ground. At any rate, 
where transplanting is followed there is less of the bulb below 
the surface of the soil than where they are sown in permanent 
beds, and consequently there is less room for the grub to attack. 
Rather more than a year ago I took the following note fi’om 
a gardening paper :—“To half a pound of soft soap add a pint 
of hot water, thoroughly dissolve the soap, then add half a pint 
of paraffin, stir well, then add two quarts more of hot water, put 
into a stone bottle, and shake well before using. This mixes 
readily with hot or cold water, and for syringing or sponging 
can be diluted as necessary.” I not long ago sponged a large 
plant of Croton pictum with the above mixture, using rather less 
than a wineglassful to three gallons of cold water, and not a 
leaf was damaged, and I intend trying the same upon Onions 
and Carrots this year if they show signs of grubbing. I am 
acquainted with a market gardener who planted about two acres 
of newly trenched land with Raspberries and Strawberries which 
were soon attacked by grubs. He tried sowing soot to no 
purpose. At last to save the plants he set men to work with 
trowels to take away the soil from the roots, pick up what grubs 
they could, and before returning the soil, to give each root a 
handful of soot, and in this way, at a cost of £20, he saved the 
plants from destruction. If the mixture I have mentioned above 
should answer, it will be both cheaper and more quickly done 
than the plan he adopted. An amateur who grows remarkably 
good crops of Onions says that transplanting and constant 
treading between the rows and as close to the bulb as possible 
will effectually prevent the attacks of grubs.—T. A. B. 
ROSE MARECHAL NIEL. 
This mucb-appreciated Rose will not live upon any stock 
now employed for a longer period than five or six years. A few 
instances to the contrary may be pointed out, which I readily 
grant; but these are exceptional cases, for where one plant is 
found in good health and vigour for a longer space of time than 
that mentioned, hundreds succumb in less than half. The 
Manetti is a useless stock for this Rose, and very few indeed are 
now worked upon it, as it is exhausted in one year by such a 
strong luxuriant grower, even if planted deeply in order to 
induce roots from the junction of the scion and stock. A few 
years ago I planted out nine growing Roses on this stock from 
6-inch pots. They grew well, making shoots 20 feet in length or 
more, but the whole with one exception died the following spring 
as soon as they started into growth, for upon examination the 
stocks were found to be dead. The one that lived had produced 
roots from the union of the scion with the stock, but not sufficient 
for it to make much progress the second year, and was in con¬ 
sequence pulled out. The longest time I have had a plant live 
on the Briar has been five years, but its progress was slow. It 
commenced to canker badly, and has done but little good since. 
I am distinctly in favour of Roses upon their own roots. I 
believe they will live longer and flourish better than when upon 
stocks. I have two plants now five years old that have up to the 
present time done well; but upon one there is now a slight trace 
-of canker, although the growth made during the past year has 
been remarkably strong. My experience up to the present 
justifies me in saying that the Marechal is one of those Roses 
that enjoys a fast life and a short one. I do not believe, whether 
grown upon its own roots or worked upon a stock, that any 
dependance can be placed on it living for any great length of 
time : still it is worth cultivation, for no other variety with 
which I am acquainted, the old “Glory ” excepted, will yield a 
greater per-centage of fine flowers with less trouble. The only 
system by which success can be attained is to keep on hand a 
stock of young plants, which are readily raised from cuttings, 
for no Rose will strike root with greater freedom. If the roof 
of a house has to be covered, why might it not as well be covered 
with, say, half a dozen plants as to wait for a longer period of 
time and cover it with one large specimen? The former is 
decidedly preferable, because the one might die and then cause 
a break, but with a number of plants they would not all be lost 
together. If one or more showed symptoms of disease they 
could be pulled out and young vigorous plants put in their 
place. 
This is a valuable Rose for pot culture, and should be raised 
annually for early flowering and then conveyed to the rubbish 
heap ; or if strong shoots issue from the base they can be cut 
close back and retained for a second year. Well ripened plants 
require but little forcing, and blooms may be had in quantity 
during February from plants raised the previous spring. Shoots 
in a single season will often attain a length of 25 feet, which 
will produce on an average twenty blooms. If a dozen plants 
are grown the figures given will perhaps be the least number 
obtained from any of them. 
Those who have established plants will now be able to take 
good cuttings. Wood not half ripened should be selected; soft 
shoots about 3 inches in length slipped off with a sharp knife 
close to where they join the old wood will also root freely at the 
present time. If firmer wood is employed the cuttings will be 
much longer forming roots, and a much greater per-centage of 
deaths will be the result. If the cuttings have two joints that 
will be ample; both leaves should be left upon them, and the 
top eye only out of the soil. They must be inserted in sandy 
soil or all sand in pots, pans, boxes, or handlights. Whichever 
are used they should be covered with bellglasses or sheets of 
glass, so as to exclude air, after a good watering has been given, 
if successful results are to follow. After insertion the cuttings 
should be stood in a heated structure shaded from strong sun, 
and in about three weeks they will have formed roots. When 
iu this stage air should be admitted gradually until they can 
have full exposure, and the sooner afterwards they are placed 
singly into 3-inch pots the better. 
After potting they may be returned to the structure in which 
they were rooted, and kept in a close frame for ten days or a 
fortnight until they recover and commence rooting afresh. In 
a warm moist temperature they will soon commence growing 
vigorously, and should be supplied with an upright stake. When 
about a foot high they will have filled their small pots with roots, 
and should be transferred into others 3 or 4 inches larger, and 
when established in these pots give them positions where the 
temperature is a little lower. It should, however, be lowered by 
degrees until they can endure a cool house where air is admitted 
freely by the time they have filled their pots with roots. Care 
must be taken not to move them from a warm to a cool house 
without gradual preparation, or they will not make any progress 
for a long time. The young plants should by this time be 
4 or 5 feet high and ready for 10-inch pots. When established 
in these some of them will continue to extend their leading 
shoots, while othei's will produce strong suckers from the base, 
which should be encouraged, for they will extend with rapidity 
and make better plants before autumn than those that have 
extended from the top eye of the cutting. To grow these plants 
well they will not need larger pots than those named, and from 
the time they are placed in their flowering pots they should be 
trained under the roof of a house with a southern aspect until 
they are well ripened in autumn. 
In potting the soil should be pressed firmly and the roots 
of the plants should be disturbed as little as possible, only 
removing the drainage. From the first they must not remain 
in their pots until they are crammed with roots, but should be 
shifted as soon as the roots have reached the sides of the pots. 
If checked by this or any other cause they seldom make satis¬ 
factory progress. 
The soil that will grow them well is rich fibry loam, a 
seventh of manure, and about a 6-inch potful of bonemeal to 
every barrowful of soil and nearly the same quantity of soot, 
with a little sand. For the first two pottings a little leaf mould 
may be employed with advantage, for it will assist them to 
make a quick growth. If planted out use only loam, and sub¬ 
stitute for the manure quarter-inch bones, which are better, for 
the soil sours quickly when manure is employed. 
Careful watering is needed for a time after potting, but 
when they are rooting freely liberal quantities must be given 
them ; in fact, in no stage, not even during the winter, should 
they be allowed to become dust dry. When their pots are full 
of roots weak liquid manure may be given every time they 
require water. Better even than supplying stimulants in a 
liquid state is to "sprinkle some suitable artificial manure on the 
surface soil. While growing the plants should be syringed 
liberally to keep red spider in check, but there is not much fear 
