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Established Varieties

In this chapter it is aimed to give the reader such general information as will enable him to comprehend the main principles of the propagation of the rose. In order that he may fairly understand the following chapters, and the general scheme of the selection of varieties and the ordering of the same, this chapter should be read carefully. It is not the intention to puzzle the home rose grower with all the scientific details of each phase of rose culture; but it is believed that the following paragraphs will give a good working idea of the methods employed. For those who may care to follow out such matters to their utmost conclusion, the names of exhaustive works are given.

Established roses are propagated mainly by the following methods: Seeds, layering and suckers; cuttings, budding and grafting, the last three being the principal methods.

SEEDS In order to secure established varieties, seeds are used only in special cases, because they can only be relied upon to reproduce plants of their own kind when they are taken from original species. Seeds of hybrids are useless for this end, as their seedlings do not conform to the parent stock. In other words, hybrids do not come true from seeds, and their seeds are only useful for new varieties. "Experiments with Plants," by Osterhout, goes into the scientific treatment of seeds. LAYERING Many plants and some roses increase by layering, that is, throwing out a branch which becomes rooted and in turn sends out its branches to root themselves and carry out nature's work of increase. Layering is not practised to any great extent, as it is a longer process than the others and requires not only more time to accomplish results, but also more space either in greenhouse or nursery.

Layering is now only used for some varieties which do not root well from cuttings. Ellwanger cites Persian Yellow as one of these.

It is a simple and easy operation, and is accomplished by bending down a rose cane of a growing plant, scientifically notching it with a knife (technically known as tongueing), and then putting the tongued portion into prepared ground, after which it is held in place by various methods. Roots are formed at the break and eventually the part so treated may be detached from the original plant and becomes itself a complete plant.

Pemberton, in "Roses-Their History, Development and Cultivation," gives very clear and explicit instructions on layering.

SUCKERS Pemberton's description of suckers we quote as follows: "Many of the species, such as RUGOSA, ALPINA, SPINOSISSIMA and LUCIDA, together with Provence and Damask hybrids, etc., increase by throwing out suckers, springing up at some distance from the parent plant, and forming roots at the place where they bend upwards. These rooted suckers, after being separated from the plant, should be pruned back to a foot or even less, and then treated as ordinary plants."

CUTTINGS Cuttings are slips taken from plants which, when placed in sand and soil, grow roots of their own and become in turn rose plants, giving the same bloom as the plants from which they were cut. Very often they are given greenhouse care and while this is not necessary, it obtains, perhaps, surer and better results. In experimental work, cuttings have been carried so far that they have been made successfully even from rose leaves, although this method is of no practical use. No doubt many persons who have followed to this point understand cuttings and have employed them not only in roses but in other plants, such as carnations and geraniums, which are propagated almost entirely by this method. In their proper place cuttings as used in rose culture may be relied upon, but beyond this sphere their use is open to debate, as, in the opinion of nearly all the best authorities, they are not as satisfactory as budding. The main reason for their failure is that many of the new varieties are weak growers and cannot of their own accord win the fight for existence, even under favorable conditions. As conditions in our climate are most uncertain, only the exceptionally hardy plant succeeds on its own roots. It would be easy for any one to make cuttings of his own, and this could be successfully done with the hardier roses, thereby saving the expense of purchasing. If roses are purchased, budded plants are strongly recommended, as the slight extra outlay would be fully justified.

While there are many good articles on cuttings, Pemberton's is the best, as it treats of cuttings under glass and also cuttings in the open.

FIG. 1