i«4 THE ROSE BOOK 



Budding is best done in late June and early July for 

 standard Briers, and August for the dwarf stocks. The 

 art is soon acquired, and although we shall try to 

 explain it here, the reader would be well advised to have 

 a lesson or two from an experienced worker. The " eyes," 

 or buds, are taken, as far as possible, from a shoot that 

 has just flowered. Such a shoot is said to be " ripe." 

 The eyes must be dormant, but plump. The shoots con- 

 taining them are cut off the plant, and all foliage is 

 removed. Part of each leaf-stalk is left so that the 

 buds may be handled easily. If the ends of the stems 

 containing the buds are put into a jar of water they will 

 take no harm for an hour or two. Pieces of raffia, about 

 twelve inches long, with which to tie the buds, should 

 be prepared, and a sharp budding knife should also be 

 in readiness. A cut about one inch in length is made 

 on the bark of the Brier shoot in the form of the letter T, 

 and only just deep enough to pierce the bark. 



Two cuts are necessary, one longitudinal and the 

 other horizontal. The latter is merely to facilitate the 

 insertion of the bud. Now take one of the pieces of 

 stem containing the buds in the left hand and com- 

 mence to cut it about an inch above the eye. The blade 

 is pushed gently down behind the eye and brought out 

 again about a quarter of an inch below it. Now comes 

 the most difficult part of the work, the removal of that 

 portion of the stem behind the eye without damaging 

 the base of the latter. If this is lost then the bud will 

 not grow ; there should be no hole beneath the eye. 

 The way to carry out this delicate operation with sue- 



