TOE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
205 
minutes on tlie ground with the help of the demonstrations 
and explanations of one who is somewhat expert in perform¬ 
ing it, hut will be very slowly apprehended by the best written 
instructions, however freely illustrated and “ adapted to the 
meanest capacity.” 
Manetti Roses are adapted for all soils and situations; 
but have an especial value for gravelly, chalky, and worn-out 
soils, because of the abundance of roots the Manetti brier 
produces, and its consequent power of obtaining nourishment 
in comparatively barren lands. When this stock is employed 
for dwarf roses (and it is not suited for the production of 
standards) the stems should be budded near the ground; 
indeed a little of the earth should be removed to enable the 
operator to insert the buds as low down as it is possible to 
find a green lifting bark on which he can operate with a hope 
of success. 
Own-root Roses are, generally speaking, the most valuable 
of all. They are such as have roots of their own, that is to 
say, they are not obtained by budding or grafting, but by the 
striking of buds or cuttings, or putting down layers ; in each 
case the rose makes roots for its own sustenance, instead of 
being made to depend on the roots of briers, manettis, or any 
other stocks. Any one who has had a little experience in the 
propagation of bedding plants ought to find it easy and agree¬ 
able work to produce a stock of own-root roses. There are many 
modes of procedure open to the choice of the proficient. The 
simplest of all methods may be described in a few words:— 
There will be found on all the rose-trees in the middle of 
July, a number of plump, young, green shoots of the same 
year. As the seasons vary, so will the time vary for taking 
cuttings; and the best rule that can be given is, that they 
should be taken when about half ripe, the wood being still 
green but firm, for so long as it is decidedly soft and sappy it 
is unfit. The selected shoots should be cut up into lengths of 
about four inches each, and the lowest leaf should be removed. 
The soft tops of shoots should either be cut off and thrown 
away, or should be carefully struck in the same way that soft 
bedding plants are, in pans filled with sand, in a rather strong, 
moist heat. But the cuttings we have especially in view, 
consisting (say) of young wood as thick as a goose-quill, in 
lengths of four to six joints each, the lowest leaf only removed, 
will not require heat, but will quickly make root if planted 
