April 7,1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
265 
per plant. “ But,” says somebody—some Manetti man probably— 
“ budded plants are always dying and leaving gaps to be refilled.” 
Well, you will not avoid this by having own-root Roses ; these die 
sometimes too, more especially in the young state. When once 
established I admit that they take a lot of killing ; the winter frosts 
may cut them down to the ground, but every bit of root is of the 
same breed as the parent, and spring sees the apparently dead plant 
return to life in the sending up of a lot of new shoots. Budded 
plants under the same circumstances would give us a rich harvest of 
suckers probably, but these would only be Briars or Manettis. Of 
course I am assuming that the plants are killed outright, but where 
they are planted properly frost in these parts rarely kills dwarf 
Roses on the Briar. 
Again, the uprising of suckers, which have to be contended 
against and removed in the case of budded plants when they occur, 
becomes here a blessing instead of a curse, as all the suckers that 
arise from own-root plants must naturally be of the same varieties as 
the plants themselves. Here the only care necessary is to remove late 
sappy shoots as soon as they appear, shoots which experience tells 
us can never be expected to ripen before winter. 
I cannot see why the vigorous growing Roses grown on their 
own roots should not do quite as well as they do when budded on 
stocks, tho greatest disadvantage being, in my opinion, the length of 
time that the plants occupy the ground before we can hope for any 
result. Somebody has argued somewhere that if we compare the 
date of the putting in of the cutting which is to form the future 
stock, or the sowing of the seed of the seedling Briar for the same 
purpose, with the date of the making and planting of an own-root 
cutting, that we sha'l find that no time is gained by having budded 
plants. Possibly not, but we can go into the market and buy stocks 
ready for budding the same season we plant them, or we can buy 
plants to give us blooms at once, thus repaying the nurseryman for 
occupying his ground growing the stocks or the Roses for us, while 
our own gardens may be better utilised by being kept gay with 
Roses in the meantime. If a beginner wishes to make a collection 
of own-root Roses, the best plan for him to follow is to propagate 
his own ; for the time cultivating plants on other stocks. In this 
way he will not sacrifice the present for the sake of the future, 
while on the other hand he will be gaining useful experience as the 
days pass by. 
PROPAGATING OWN-ROOT ROSES. 
Layering. 
This is the most certain way of getting Roses on their own 
roots. To carry it out it is only necessary to have a stock of dwarf 
Roses planted and in full growth. The business is best done about 
midsummer. It is done by bending down a branch of the growing 
Rose, after making a cut as shown in fig. 47, which cut it will be 
noticed has passed right under and beyond a bud. The cut part 
being pegged down about 1 inch below the ground, and a piece of 
flower pot or something similar having been inserted in the cut to 
keep it open, after which the soil should be drawn over, roots will 
in due time be emitted from the severed bud, and the branch when 
cut away with the newly made roots attached to it will become an 
independent plant. If the layering be done in early summer it will 
generally be the case that roots will have been formed by autumn, 
and, that being so, the branch may be cut off and planted. Where 
it is found that roots have not made their appearance, the cutting 
off of the branch had better be deferred until the following 
spring. 
In bending the branch down in the first instance great care must 
be exercised so as not to break it clean off, the wood of many Roses 
being very brittle. When a branch is cut half through to start with, 
very little pressure is required to snap it off a'together. For 
holding the branches down I find wire pegs, which can be easily 
made, answer best. 
Fig. 48 shows a plant one branch of which has been bent down, 
the cut being made at a ; some of the leaves have been removed 
from the branches. If there be any difficulty in keeping the 
branch when bent down in its proper position a little stick should 
be inserted in the ground, to which it may be secured. 
CUTTINGS. 
The smooth-barked Roses strike readily ; such varieties as John 
Hopper, Etienne Levet, and Ulrich Brunner are good examples of the 
section. One or two shoots of nice firm half-ripe wood should be 
cut off where they can best be spared, without crippling or dis¬ 
figuring the plants. If they can be cut with heels to them all the 
better. The shoots should be cut up into pieces about 10 inches 
long, rejecting the soft unripe tops ; each cutting should have two 
good leaves to it, and be cut close up to a bud at the base, as advised 
for Briar cuttings. In the case of those with heels there are 
always a lot of buds, although they are not visible, round this part 
of the branches. I may say here for this very reason that Briar 
cuttings are not advised to be cut with heels. It is not necessary to 
remove the lower buds from the shoots of Roses, as advised in the 
case of Briar stocks, because in the latter case suckers would 
be simply a nuisance, being part of the stock only, while in 
the case of own-root cuttings suckers could only be part of the Roses 
themselves, and therefore welcome. Still, I think some successful 
Rose-growers recommend the removal of these lower buds, and so 
the beginner had better take his choice, either to plant the 
cuttings as taken from the tree, removing all the leaves but two at 
the top. or else to cut out all the lower buds, as directed in the pro¬ 
pagation of Briar cuttings. A cold frame in a shady place and a 
bed of sandy soil will be great aids to arriving at a successful issue 
in this matter, but if these cannot be obtained the cuttings should 
be put in very firmly—planting them as deeply as possible, still 
allowing the leaves to be above ground—somewhere where the sun 
cannot shine on them. If they can be lightly syringed with cold 
water for a few days after planting this will assist them to retain 
their leaves, which is desirable. Under these circumstances a fair 
per-centage of the cuttings will grow, but a cold frame will add to 
the number very considerably. Where a frame cannot be had 
sometimes a square wooden box might be available. If a piece of 
glass be procured to fit the top of this, and if, after knocking the 
bottom out, the cuttings are put under this box, the glass being 
afterwards made air-tight, or nearly so, by means of strips of paper 
pasted round the edges, nearly all the cuttings put in will strike,, 
and the dead ones will be the exceptions. Mr. Taylor, the great 
Grape grower, is, I believe, the author of this very excellent plan 
at any rate, it was, I feel certain, from his writings that I picked 
it up. 
Cuttings must be put in while the leaves are on the trees and. 
the sap in motion, if we intend to be successful with them.—D.. 
Gilmour, jun. 
(JTo be continued.) 
THE PROPOSED GARDENERS’ ORPHAN FUND. 
All honour to Mr. Penny for projecting this scheme. That some such- 
effort is required there is ample evidence in the length and breadth of 
the land ; yet I, for one, must have kept aloof from it while there were 
proposals to erect a home or central institution, with all the expenses 
and chances of jobbery that such an institution would possibly 
lead to. 
What would meet my views and those of others I have heard speak¬ 
ing of the matter would be a central fund from which allowances could 
be made to the natural guardians of the children of deceased gardeners, 
whether these may happen to be the mother, aunt, or other relation, 
such being, on evidence, fit persons to be entrusted with the care of the 
