| During the months of October and November it
is usual with most Rose-growers to shorten many
of the long shoots of standard Roses, for the
purpose of preventing them being broken by the
snow and high winds. This plan is very desirable.
I now wish to show your readers that some use can
be made of the wood that is cut away, and which
generally goes to the rubbish-heap. I have,
during the last few winters, endeavoured to find
out the best method of raising plants from these
strong shoots and will explain my most successful
method.
Choose any sheltered out-of-the-way spot in
the garden; if the soil is tenacious, have a
little sand dug in. cut the Rose shoots into
lenghts of four eyes; take all the leaves off
except the top one; then insert the cuttings
firmly in the ground, so as to leave out only the
top leaf and bud. three eyes will then be
imbedded in the soil, which must be trod hard and
firm.
No covering of any kind will be required, nor
will the cuttings want any notice to be taken of
them during the winter, unless the frost and
worms should have loosened the soil, then it
should be made firm again.
About April the operator will find that nearly
all the cuttings will show signs of growth; but
he must not be disappointed to find the greater
portion go off, as only a small percentage of the
number will root; consequently the cuttings
should be inserted very thickly in the bed, or
much ground will be wasted, as it will not be
advisable to disturb the rooted ones until the
following autumn.
Last winter I put in about a thousand
cuttings, and at the time I write there are about
a hundred fine plants in the bed, many of them in
nice bloom, and from 1 to 3 feet high. These I
shall shortly remove to their proper quarters.
One advantage to be derived from this mode of
propagation is, that you obtain much stronger
plants on their own roots than you can from any
other mode that I am acquainted with; added to
which, all the plants that are so raised are
obtained at little or no cost, as the wood would
have been thrown away; while thousands of
cuttings can be inserted in a few square yards of
ground, and but a small portion of time expended
in the operation.
I have found that some varieties are almost
certain to root, while others will entirely fail.
Among the fromer Jules Margottin, Duchess of
Orleans, La Reine, auguste Mie, and General
Jacqueminot, are all useful kinds.
If some method could be discovered by which
all the varieties could be propagated on their
own roots, in the open air, it would be a great
boon to amateur growers, as the plants so raised
are not so liable to disease, and generally
appear much stronger in constitution, and produce
finer blooms than those propagated in heat.
The Cedars, Castle Bromwich.
Charles Jas. Perry
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