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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
March  24-,  1904. 
Pot  Roses  and  their  Culture.* 
The  Rose  is  deservedly  one  of  the  most  popular  subjects  in 
liorticulture,  and  has  been  rightly  designated  the  Queen  of 
Flowers.  It  is  also  one  of  the  most  useful,  as  it  can  be  had  in 
bloom  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  is  readily  adapted  to  nearly 
all  purposes  where  flowers  can  be  employed.  It  is  a  .subject  all 
gardeners  and  most  amateurs  are  interested  in. 
The  subject  of  this  paper  being  so  extensive  I  merely  intend 
dealing  with  the  following  headings:  Propagation,  “growing  the 
plants  on,”  selection  of  varieties  for  pot  work,  and  growing  the 
plants  for  bloom.  The  best  stock  for  pot  work  is  the  common 
needling  Dog  Briar  or  Rosa  cauina.  The  stocks  should  be  two 
years  old,  and  have  good  straight  necks  about  as  thick  as  a  lead 
pencil.  The  best  time  for  potting  the  stocks  is  in  October,  and 
they  should  be  put  into  (iO’s  or  3in  pots,  in  a  compost  of  two-thirds 
good  loam  and  one-third  well-rotted  manure,  with  a  slight  sprink¬ 
ling  of  sand  to  keep  the  compost  open.  No  crocks  are  retpiired, 
as  they  do  not  remain  in  this  sized  pot  very  long. 
When  potted,  the  stocks  .‘^hould  be  placed  in  a  house  with 
very  little  heat,  and  be  s.yringed  daily  to  help  them  to  break  into 
growth,  the  heat  being  increased  until  it  reaches  an  average  tem¬ 
perature  of  from  obdeg  to  OOdeg.  About  the  .second  or  third 
week  in  November  the  stock  is  ready  for  grafting.  Great  care 
should  be  taken  in  the  selection  of  grafts,  the  well-ripened,  hard 
wood  onl.v  should  be  used.  This  should  be  cut  up  into  pieces 
about  2in  long,  having  a  good  sound  bud  at  the  top.  In  potting 
the  stocks,  it  is  nece.ssary  to  leave  lin  on  the  top  part  of  the 
root  above  the  soil  on  which  to  put  the  graft.  If  this  is  not  done 
the  stock  has  to  be  pulled  up  an  inch  to  enable  one  to  put  on  the 
graft,  and  this  breaks  off  the  young,  newly-made  roots,  which  is 
apt  to  cause  a  check.  The  stock  .should  be  cut  transversely,  just 
beloAv  the  neck  or  where  the  root  and  .stem  join.  The  root  should 
then  be  cut  through  with  a  slanting  cut  about  |in  long,  com¬ 
mencing  at  the  base  and  cutting  upwards.  A  .slanting  cut  should 
then  be  made  on  the  graft,  commencing  at  the  back  of,  and  as 
near  the  eye  as  possible,  to  correspond  with  the  cut  on  the  stock. 
Great  care  should  be  taken  to  see  that  both  sides  of  the  graft 
meet  both  sides  of  the  stock,  so  that  the  cambium  of  the  one  rests 
directly  on  the  cambium  of  the  other.  The  union  .should  be 
bound  tightly  round  with  raffia  or  bast ;  but  if,  however,  it  is 
found  impossible  to  make  both  sides  meet,  one  side  only  must 
meet  or  no  union  will  take  place. 
After  the  plants  are  grafted  they  should  be  put  into  closed 
cases  practically  airtight,  with  an  ash  or  fibre  bottom,  which 
must  be  well  damped  before  the  plants  are  staged  up.  They 
must  have  a  sharp  bottom  heat,  which  is  generally  afforded  by 
two  or  more  hot-water  pipes  running  underneath  the  stage  on 
which  the  cases  are  fixed.  It  is  also  advisable  to  have  the  front 
of  the  stage  bricked  up,  so  as  to  keep  as  much  heat  as  possible 
underneath.  When  the  grafts  have  been  in  the  cases  three  or 
four  days  it  is  nece.ssary  to  open  them  for  about  an  hour  or  so 
each  morning  to  dry  up  any  superfluous  moisture  that  is  in  the 
case'.  This  must  be  done  each  day  for  about  a  fortnight,  when 
the  grafts  will  have  grown  l.Un  to  2in.  They  are  then  ready  to 
come  out  of  the  cases,  and  should  be  placed  on  a  stage  in  a  vei'y 
close  house,  having  an  average  temperature  of  GOdeg.  In  very 
I'are  instances  are  the  grafts  ready  to  come  out  all  together,  so 
that  care  must  be  u.sed  not  to  take  anything  out  of  the  ca.ses  until 
it  has  made  l^in  to  2in  of  growth,  and  a  good  healthy  callus  has 
been  formed. 
After  the  grafts  have  been  taken  out  of  the  cases  they  must 
be  kept  moist  at  the  root.s,  and  .syringed  very  lightly  with  chilled 
(tepid)  water  twice  a  day,  or  if  the  day  happens  to  be  sunny  they 
will  recpiire  it  more  often.  When  the  grafts  have  been  out  of 
the  cases  about  a  month  they  are  ready  to  pot  on  into  48’s  or  .5in 
pots.  Thus  end.s  the  propagating  stage. 
Passing  to  the  growing  of  the  plants,  the  same  compost  is  used  : 
two-thirds  loam,  one-third  manure,  and  again  a  little  sand,  only 
the  soil  this  time  need  not  be  knocked  up  quite  so  finely.  The 
48-sized  pots  should  be  crocked  with  a  .stop  or  large  crock  to  cover 
the  hole,  and  about  three  smaller  pieces.  These  should  be  covered 
about  an  inch  thick,  with  rough  fibre  picked  out  of  the  soil,  and 
the  plant  should  be  knocked  out  of  the  GO’.s  or  Sin  pots,  when  it 
will  be  found  to  have  made  a  network  of  white  fibrous  roots. 
Great  care  should  bo  taken  not  to  damage  these  or  break  the 
ball  of  soil.  Here  is  shown  the  advantage  of  not  crocking  the 
Sin  ])ots,  as  the  ball  can  be  transferred  without  damage 
through  removing  the  crocks,  thus  avoiding  a  check,  which  is  very 
detrimental,  and  often  fatal  to  a  plant  at  this  .stage.  The  plants 
*  A  p.aper  reail  before  tlie  IVlfb.ain,  P.elfont,  .-nid  Ilanworth  Horticultural 
Mutual  Iinproveineut  Society ,  by  Mr.  lijnj.aniin  11  Nettlecon,  Kose  grower  to 
Me-<rs.  ’J'.  S.  Ware  (1:  01),  I.'.d. 
should  be  potted  firmly,  though  not  hard,  into  the  48',s,-  taking 
care  to  put  the  graft  down  below  the  surface  of  the  soil.  .'O  that 
it  can  get  on  its  own  roots  ;  and  a  close  house  with  a  temperature 
of  oodeg  upwards  will  be  found  most  beneficial. 
After  the  plants  have  been  potted  they  should  stand  a  day 
or  two  without  water,  though  they  .should  be  thoroughly  .syringed 
from  the  first.  When  the  balls  have  got  fairly  dry  they  may  be 
watered  with  chilled  water  through  a  rose  can.  It  is  much  better 
in  this  and  all  stages  to  fill  the  pot  up  with  water  occasionally 
than  to  give  frequent  but  insufficient  waterings.  The  house  will 
not  require  any  air  until  April,  and  then  only  a  very  little  oji  fine 
days. 
After  about  Gin  to  9in  of  growth  has  been  made  the  plants 
should  be  staked  with  .sticks  15in  to  18in  long,  taking  care  to  put 
the  .stick  at  the  back  of  the  graft,  so  as  to  be  an  additional  .support 
to  it  :  this  is  for  dwarf  growing  varieties — climbers  should  bo 
staked  in  the  same  way,  only  with  Sft  Gin  to  4ft  stakes;  and,  as 
the  plants  grow,  they  will  require  additional  tying,  with  judicious 
watering  and  constant  syringing.  This  is  all  the  attention  the 
plants  will  require  whilst  in  48-sized  or  oin  pots. 
When  the  Rose  plants  are  in  a  young  state  they  are  very 
tender,  and  are  susceptible  to  attack  from  disease  and  insect 
pests.  The  disease  that  attacks  them  mostly  is  white  mildew, 
which  is  generally  caused  by  a  draught  or  too  cold  a  temperature, 
or  if  leaves  infested  with  mildew  have  been  left  on  the  grafts  this 
will  spread  as  the  plants  grow.  A  good  preventive  for  niildew 
is  to  smear  the  pipes  with  a  mixture  of  powdered  sulphur  (yellow 
or  black  will  do),  and  a  little  lime  or  flour  made  into  a  paste,  with 
cold  water,  until  it  is  thin  enough  to  be  applied  to  the  pipes  with 
an  ordinary  whitewash  brush.  The  sulphur  by  itself  would 
answer  the  purpose,  but  when  it  gets  dry  it  soon  comes  off,  as  it 
has  little  or  no  adhesive  properties,  and  a  little  lime  or  flour  mixed 
with  it  makes  it  stick  to  the  pipes  better.  The  sulphur  fume.s 
thus  given  off  are  fatal  to  mildew,  and  if  this  preventive  is  used, 
white  mildew  will  rarely  be  trouble.some.  If  it  should  appear,  a 
little  sulphur  dusted  on  the  infested  foliage  will  iDrevent  its 
.spreading,  and  all  air  should  be  kept  off  until  the  disease  has  dis¬ 
appeared. 
Black  mildew  is  much  worse  to  deal  with  than  white,  and 
damages  the  plants  so  quickly  that  it  must  be  attended  to  imme¬ 
diately  its  appearance  is  discovered.  Black  mildew  only  attacks 
young  growing  foliage — the  old  mature  leaves  are  quite  impervious 
to  it.  It  is  caused  through  overwatering,  or  a  cold,  close,  damp 
atmosphere.  It  is  not  so  easily  discovered,  as  it  first  makes  its 
appearance  on  the  under  side  of  the  young  leaves  in  the  form 
of  a  gre.yish  fungus.  This  causes  a  dark  green  blotch  or  .spot  on 
the  top  side  of  the  leaves,  and  if  remedies  are  not  taken  to  check 
it.  it  will  goon  cause  the  leaves  to  fall  off,  and  thus  cripple  the 
plant.  The  infested  foliage  should  be  lightly  dusted  with 
sulphur;  all  water  being  withheld  from  the  roots  of  the  plant; 
as  much  air  a.s  possible  given  so  as  not  to  cause  a  draught  ;  and 
the  temperature  of  the  house  raised  so  as  to  create  a  warm,  dry 
atmosphere.  This  will  get  rid  of  black  mildew  as  quickly  as  any¬ 
thing,  as  moisture  is  essential  to  its  development. 
The  imsect  pestS'  most  common  are  green  fly  and  red  spider. 
The  former  is  easily  got  rid  of  by  fumigating  with  almost  any  of 
the  numerous  insecticides  adverti.sed  in  gardening  papers,  or  b.v 
the  old  way  of  burning  tobacco  paper.  The  second,  viz.,  red 
spider,  can  be  got  rid  of  by  hard  and  frequent  syringing  with 
clean  water,  taking  care  to  get  at  the  under  .side  of  the  foliage,  a.s 
the  red  spider  is  easily  drowned,  and  cannot  stand  moisture  in 
any  form. 
Assuming  the  plants  have  grown  well,  they  will  be  ready  to 
pot  on  from  the  48’s  or  Gin  pots,  into  24’s  or  Tin,  or  IG's  or  Sin 
pots,  b.v  the  end  of  April.  The  soil  again  should  be  two-thirds 
loam  and  one-third  manure,  but  no  sand  is  now  necessar.v,  .and 
the  compost  should  be  left  fairly  rough,  so  as  to  retain  the  fibrous 
pieces  a.s  much  as  possible.  This  time  the  soil  should  be  well 
rammed  round  the  sides  of  the  pot  with  a  ramming  stick,  so  as 
to  leave  no  spaces  for  the  roots  to  get  into  and  perish.  In  this 
stage  the  plants  should  be  potted  very  tightly  and  hard.  Careful 
watering  so  as  not  to  get  the  balls  sodden  nor  get  too  dr.v,  and 
comstant  syringing,  with  an  occasional  t3ung,  is  all  the  attention 
thej’  require  whilst  growing-on  in  the  large  pots.  It  is  simply  a 
repetition  of  the  treatment  given  to  them  when  in  48’s. 
About  the  middlei  of  June  the  fire  heat  may  be  taken  off  the 
houses,  and  air  must  be  given  so  as  to  keep  the  temperature  below 
90deg  if  possible  during  the  summer  days,  and  the  houses  must  be 
closed  at  night  .so  as  to  keep  as  even  a  temperature  as  pos.sib!e. 
B.y  the  middle  of  September  the  plants  will  have  completed  their 
growth,  and  may  be  placed  outside  on  an  ash  bottom  to  ripen 
their  wood.  All  buds  should  be  picked  off,  and  all  long  straggling 
.shoots  topped,  until  the  plants  have  become  thoroughl.v  estab¬ 
lished,  then  thcA"  may  be  left  to  bloom,  as  this  helps  to  mature 
the  wood  bj.  causing  the  growth  to  stop.  This  treatment  applies 
to  dwarfs.  Climbers  are  treated  in  much  the  same  manner,  except 
that  their  long  growths  must  be  encouraged,  and  no  topping  is 
necessaiw  ;  they  should  be  tied  up  Gft  stakes  or  up  the  roof  of  the 
house. 
(To  be  continued.) 
