Roses and Rose Growing

by Rose Georgina Kingsley

Dwarf stocks are treated much in the same way, but must be planted nearer the surface than standards; for when they are budded the earth must be removed right down to the roots, in order to set the bud as low as possible, as it is inserted in the stem itself, and not in the young wood of the year.

We then choose the "scion"—a twig of the rose we wish to propagate which has already flowered, with plump but not too large buds behind each leaf stalk. Inserting the budding-knife about half an inch above the lowest of these buds or "eyes," we slice down, making a little dip inwards towards the wood as the knife passes the bud, to nearly an inch below it, not cutting through the bark, but peeling it off the scion. The thin slice of wood which adheres to the inside of the strip of bark containing the bud, is now removed by inserting the knife between it and the bark, and jerking it out sharply. Nothing should now be left in the bark save the soft green substance of the "eye." But if this has been dragged out with the wood, the bud is useless, and must be thrown away. The shield of bark is then trimmed to a point below.

The stock is now made ready to receive the bud. At the point we have chosen for inserting the bud—in standards let it be as close as possible to the main stem—a perpendicular slit from half an inch to an inch long is made with the budding-knife, care being taken only to cut through the bark and not to wound the wood below. A short cross-cut is made at the top of the slit. Then the bark is gently raised on each side downwards from this cross-cut, with the flat handle of the knife.

Into this slit the bud is slipped by putting the pointed lower end into the cross slit, and pushing it down as far as it will go. We then cut off any bark at the top of the bud that overlaps the cross-cut, so that the shield fits in perfectly, when the side flaps of bark are brought gently over it.

With a bit of Raffia grass, well moistened in water, we now bind up the bud; beginning from below with a double turn over one end of the Raffia, and keeping it quite flat, exactly in the way we put on a surgical bandage. When we come to the bud itself, the Raffia must be wound tightly and as close to the eye as possible without actually touching it. When the whole slit is completely and evenly covered, slip the end of the Raffia through the last turn and pull it tight. The operation is now complete.

CUTTINGS.

Roses on their own roots are grown from cuttings, and it is a system which suits many varieties.

How to make a cutting.—Cuttings are taken from well-ripened twigs which have already flowered, or from a lateral upon the main flowering shoot, which has ceased growing without bearing a blossom. They should be from two to six or seven inches in length, with three to nine buds upon them. And judgment is needed regarding these buds in choosing the twig, as we must take one on which they are neither immature nor too fully developed. In the case of a cutting with ten leaves we cut off the top a quarter of an inch above the fourth leaf, and the same distance below the tenth. The four lower leaves are then cut off close to the bud they cover, and the three upper ones are left on. When the cutting is planted, two-thirds of it should be in the soil.

Fig. 3.—Rose cutting with a heel, 4 leaves cut, 2 leaves left.