ROS 
ROS 
tion of new varieties. Propagation by 
suckers needs no further description than 
that they are taken off in the autumn, 
and treated as mature plants ; layers are 
usually formed of the half-ripened wood 
of the current year’s growth, and should 
have a tongue cut in the under side of 
that portion of the branch which is to be 
buried in the earth: they are generally 
fit for detaching in a twelvemonth; thus 
those done after midsummer in one year, 
are fit to be taken off in the autumn of 
the following; the practice is common 
with the dwarf moss, Provence, and 
French roses, and is applicable to all that 
do not strike freely, and yet fare desired 
to grow on their own roots; cuttings 
are best when made of young wood, just 
so firm as to be beyond the danger of 
rotting; they should be taken off the 
parent plant close to the junction, leav¬ 
ing the heel, and if necessary, may be 
foreshortened to three or four joints ; 
they require light sandy soil to strike in, 
and so much protection as will keep a 
quiet, moist, and moderately warm at- 
niosphere about them, such as is afforded 
in summer by a handlight upon a south 
or south-west border; plants produced 
in this way are generally the best for pot 
culture, as it induces a great number of 
small fibrous roots, so essential when the 
range for food is limited. Many of the 
China and other early flowering sorts 
may be made, by the aid of a gentle heat, 
to produce wood fit for cuttings at an 
early period of the season, before it will 
be safe to trust them in the open ground; 
such cuttings strike freely, if potted and 
placed in a moderate hotbed; though it 
is a question if we do not thus raise 
more, tender plants than would result if 
only summer propagation was resorted 
to. On the other hand, it is advisable 
to have the cuttings struck as early in 
summer as possible, that there may re¬ 
main time for them to be potted, and be¬ 
come established before the winter; or 
if it has been impossible to accomplish 
this, it is better to leave them undis¬ 
turbed where they were struck, till the 
succeeding spring. 
Budding is always resorted to in the 
formation of standards, and is to be re¬ 
garded as the best means of propagating 
all the weak-growing kinds, which require 
some addition to their natural vigour, to 
have them bloom in then' most perfect- 
state. It answers equally well, whatever 
the position designed for the plant, and 
by this method the increase may be car¬ 
ried much further than by any other, as 
every eye will thus form a distinct plant. 
It may be done through any of the 
summer months, the season extending 
from the end of May till that of Sep¬ 
tember. A difference of opinion exists 
as to the exact period most conducive 
to success, some cultivators recommend 
the operation to be performed as early 
as possible, others defer it till the 
autumn; by adopting the first opinion, 
and inserting the buds some time in 
June, or beginning of the following 
month, we have, in propitious seasons, 
the plants formed in the same summer, 
and, instead of a single eye to start from 
in the next year, there are several, and 
thus a considerable advantage is ob¬ 
tained; the objection to be urged to 
early budding is, however, sufficiently 
cogent to deserve consideration; the 
weather at this period is often unsettled, 
and not unfrequently marked by squalls 
of wind, which break down the branches 
of the stocks, and displace the buds; 
added to which, is one of still more 
serious nature, the buds may push with 
vigour, and form excellent growths by 
August, when the autumnal winds too 
frequently dislodge them completely. By 
deferring the work till near the end of 
the season, the buds are nearly certain 
to remain dormant till the following 
spring, and having in that time become 
securely fixed, break strongly, and the 
cultivator need be under no apprehension 
of their blowing off. The plants are of 
course smaller, because they are, as it 
were, a whole season younger than the 
others, and the method may therefore be 
designated as slow, but sure. The 
best stocks for such roses as are intended 
to be permanently planted out of doors, 
are those of the common wild dog-rose 
of the hedges (A. canina ): these are 
durable, impart the greatest amount of 
vigour, and, being among the hardiest of 
