eS 
AUGUST 10, 1903. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDNER, 
of rotten manure and sharp sand in equal 
uantities, well mixed. The shoot must 
then be tongued—that is, the knife intro- 
duced just below a bud, and brought up- 
wards so as to cut about halfway through. 
This must be done at the back of the shoot, 
not by any means in the front or in the 
bend, so that the tongue does not close. 
To make certain of this a small piece of 
stick may be introduced to keep 1t open. 
Much nicety is required to have the tongue 
at the upper end of the shoot, so as not 
to be in the part which forms the bend: or 
bow, as it is of consequence that it should 
be within 3 or 4 in. of the surface. The 
tongued part must be placed in the centre 
of the compost, and a moderate-sized stone 
placed on the surface of the ground to keep 
the layer in its place. They should be 
watered in the summer, and will be ready 
to dig up in the following June. 
PROPAGATION BY GRAFTING.—There are 
many ways of grafting Roses. The most 
eligible is the common whip grafting ; but 
T have not found grafting suitable for this 
climate. It is far too tedious as compared 
with budding, and does not produce such 
good results. 
PROPAGATION By Currincs.—Cuttings 
should be planted in May and June. Sup- 
ose the cuttings to be from 8 to 10 in. 
long. All the leaves may be removed from 
the lower end—that is, the end which is 
to be putin the ground. Cut at just under 
the bud with a sharp knife square, or a 
little on the slant. Prepare a bed or border 
of good free soil. If at all inclined to clay, 
put some sharp sand at the bottom of the 
trench, which will materially assist them 
in making roots. Plant the cuttings two- 
thirds under the ground, and water them 
well during the hot season. Some varie- 
ties root much more freely than others, and 
on the plains failures are very frequent. 
The hills are more suitable, especially in 
some of the gullies, where water is near 
the surface. 
PRopaGaTION By Buppinc.—This system 
I haye found to be by far preferable to any 
other. Cuttings, even if successful, take 
at least two years to make fair plants; by — 
budding a good plant may be obtained in 
four months, provided that the stocks are 
in a healthy state. The operation of bud- 
ding is very easy to do, but difficult to 
describe. However, I will endeavor to de- 
scribe it. A longitudinal cut, not so 
deep as to penetrate into the wood, but 
merely through the bark, should be made 
in the clear part of the shoots, thus |; 
then a transverse cut, thus —, at the top of 
the incision. It will then look’ thus 
T. The bark on both sides of the incision 
must be opened with the flat handle with 
which the budding knife is provided, and 
the bud inserted. Some recommend the 
thin piece of wood adhering to the bud to. 
be left in. I always take it out. I have 
found from experience that the buds are 
not so liable to be blown off if the wood — 
- gon, viz., one in the autumn—say in May 
is taken out. To simplify this matter, take 
arose shoot with its buds, cut off the 
leaves, leaving the footstalks about 
an inch in length, and then cut off 
a very thin slice of bark about an inch 
long, which should have a bud in the 
centre. This slice of bark will have a 
layer of thin wood inside, which should be 
carefully removed. The bud should then 
be inserted, commencing at the transverse 
cut, and thrust gently down: When the 
bud is inserted cut off with your knife a 
piece from the upper end of the plate— 
that is, the piece of bark with the bud at- 
tached—so that it fits closely to the trans- 
verse cut; then bind it up firmly, but leave 
the bud showing out, with cotton twist. Bud- 
ding may be commenced in November and 
performed as late as the latter end of 
March. In about three weeks after bud- 
ding the ligatures may be removed. All 
the branches not budded must be cut off 
from the stock cleanly about the time the 
ligatures are removed, and the budded 
MILDRED 
shoots shortened to within two or three 
eyes of the inserted bud. This manage- 
ment of budding Roses is applicable to 
standards of all heights as well as dwarfs. 
Of stocks for budding on there are several 
kinds used—the Manetta, Sweet Briar, 
Banksia, Dog Rose, &c. I find the Dog 
Rose to be the very best for this climate, 
struck from cuttings from 1 to 4 ft. in 
length, and from } to | in. in diameter, tak- 
ing care to cut off all eyes at the bottom 
to prevent suckers, which are always a 
trouble. 
CULTIVATION AND Pruninc,—aAll classes 
of Roses delight in soil well manured. 
They will stand a good dressing of well- 
prepared stable manure twice in the sea- 
—as a surface dressing. Let it remain on 
the surface until the latter end of August, 
when it should be forked in; bonedust may 
7 
be used with it to advantage. Fork over 
the ground again about the middle of Sep- 
tember, after which give your plants a 
good thick coat of mulching of moderately 
rough stable manure. This will keep the 
soil cool and damp, thus saving watering 
for some time. Stable manure, if thought 
to look unsightly, should) be lightly covered 
with earth, just sufficient to cover the 
roughness of it. 
Pruning should be done at various times 
in the season, and the separate classes of 
Roses require different ways of pruning. 
There are winter and summer prunings. 
Hybrid Perpetuals——The winter pruning 
should be done in June as a rule. Two- 
thirds of the jpreceding summer’s growth 
may be cut off, taking care to give the 
plants an equal balance of shoots, so as to 
form a good head, whether it be standard, 
GRANT. 
half-standard, or dwarf. In some varieties 
of Hybrid Perpetuals which make very 
long shoots, and others that are of a pen- 
dulous habit, nearly the whole of the 
shoot’ may be left. You will then have a 
fine racime of flowers the whole length of 
the shoot—not that you will get such large 
show flowers as by the former system, but 
the effect is grand. Summer pruning 
should be done as soon as the flowers drop. 
Cut down to one or two buds under the 
flowering heads; . they will then. make 
young wood, and flower again in a short 
time. All weak and useless wood should 
be cut out, to give the plant plenty of air. 
I am an advocate for disbudding, as being 
the best calculated to produce flowers of 
the finest possible condition; it keeps the 
plant in full health and vigor, and brings 
it to the highest state of beauty. It has 
been successfully applied in the cultivation 
