130 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE CHAP. 
slightly defrauded; but my Rosarian conscience 
was against it, for I knew that to the Suffolk 
rustic both briars and blackberries were ‘‘ brumble 
bushes.”’ 
An amateur will want even more briar cuttings 
than standard stocks. These are cheap to buy, 
ready rooted for next year’s budding, and it is not 
always easy to raise a good crop of them at home. 
There is a good deal of trouble connected with it, 
and it may perhaps be said that all this extra labour 
to raise one’s own stocks is like the enthusiasm of 
the man who blacked himself all over to play 
Othello. Still, too much enthusiasm is better than 
too little, and as I can raise better briar cuttings 
than I can buy, the way to do it shall be described. 
It is rather a monotonous business, with much 
less interest in it than the getting of standard 
stocks. About the middle of October is the time 
for commencing operations, which should be got 
over before the planting of Roses and rooted stocks 
is undertaken. The ripest possible wood of the 
year’s growth should be chosen and cut up into 
lengths of ten inches. Material for this choice will 
be found in the wild growth of the briar stocks 
budded that year, and only pieces without any 
lateral growth should be selected. The cuttings 
should now be trimmed with a sharp knife, every 
bud except the two nearest the top being clean cut 
out with the knife, not rubbed off with the fingers, 
and all the thorns removed. All this is important, 
as every other bud or part of a bud left will be sure 
to produce a sucker, and the thorns will prove a 
hindrance in many ways if suffered to remain. The 
bottom of the shoot should be a clean cut, not too 
