1872. ] 
ROSES AND ROSE CULTURE.-CHAPTER XIII. 
227 
bud firmly between the finger and thumb of the left hand ; then, by a sudden 
movement of the knife, the wood may be jerked out without injuring the bud. 
This, it must be admitted, is rather a delicate operation, and requires both skill 
and practice ; in attempting it, the eye is often withdrawn with the wood, and 
the bud destroyed. The bud, once placed, may be bound up with cotton or bast, 
and left for about three weeks, when all will be firmly united, and the 
cotton or bast may be removed. No further attention is necessary till February, 
when the wild shoot may be shortened half its length, and cut to within an inch 
of the point of insertion a month later. About midsummer the wild shoot may 
be cut off close up to the bud. 
Grafting is usually done in winter, and under glass. The Manetti, the dog- 
rose, and indeed any common roses, may be used as stocks. Whip-grafting, 
wedge-grafting, and crown-grafting seem alike successful, but the first of these is 
most commonly practised. It is important here that the scion or stranger-wood 
be of about the same thickness as the stock, so that the inner bark of the scion 
can be laid exactly upon or in contact with the inner bark of the stock. The two 
when placed in contact should be bound firmly together, as in budding. It is best 
that the stocks be potted some months before required for use, in order that 
they may have become established in the pots. The stocks should be placed in 
a close house or frame, with heat, a fortnight before grafting, that they may be 
a little in advance of the scion, so as to yield a supply of sap to the scion from 
the first. When the eyes on the scion have shot an inch or so, the ligature with 
which it has been bound to the stock may be loosened, and after a time wholly 
removed. As the plants advance in growth they may be gradually brought into 
contact with the open air. 
Cuttings of Eoses ma}^ be taken and rooted with success in spring, summer, 
and autumn ; and by cuttings we obtain plants on their own roots. Where 
forcing is resorted to, cuttings may be taken off the plants immediately that the 
flowering is over, and six or eight of them may be placed round a 48-sized pot, 
in sandy peat or loam, enriched by a mixture of leaf-mould or decayed manure. 
They should be set in a close frame or house with bottom-heat, and be kept 
moist by syringing. They will be rooted and ready for potting off in about three 
weeks from the time they are taken. Place them singly in small pots, keeping 
them in heat until the roots touch the sides of the pots, when they may be 
gradually hardened and transferred to larger pots. This is the easiest and the 
quickest way of obtaining Eoses on their own roots, but according to my judg¬ 
ment, it is not the best way. Stronger and better-constitutioned plants are 
obtained by taking cuttings from out of doors early in autumn. Select well- 
ripened shoots, cutting them into lengths of about three inches, and insert them 
in a sandy soil in a shady and sheltered situation, or under hand-glasses out of 
doors. Here let them remain for a year, when such as grow will have become 
good-sized, well-rooted plants, ready for removal to any part of the garden. 
Layering is a very certain method of obtaining Eoses on their own roots. 
