132 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE CHAP. 
advice to choose a piece of clean soil free from weeds. 
The shoots are close to the earth, and the first ones 
grow horizontally almost on the ground. Not only 
therefore is it almost impossible to hoe them, but a 
full growth of weeds can almost entirely smother 
the briar shoots. The weeds must therefore be 
hand-picked, a troublesome and unpleasant job. 
In the planting season they must all be dug up, 
remembering how deep they are planted and that all 
the roots which are to be utilised are at the bottom, 
and the plants trimmed. All roots must be cut 
cleanly off, except those proceeding from the very 
base of the plants, and those retained shortened to 
a uniform length. The growth at the tops may also 
be shortened to two or three buds, and the plants 
then transferred to their budding quarters. Here 
they should be planted about two inches deep, care 
being taken if possible to spread the roots out in 
every direction, as few fresh ones will come from 
the base of the cutting, and if there is a side on 
which there are no roots the plant will never be firm 
against the wind from that quarter. If the plants 
are permanently to remain where they are budded, 
the distance between each will depend upon the 
varieties of Roses worked on them, as explained on 
p. 54. Butif it is intended to move them after the 
maiden growth of the Rose, nine inches apart 
between the plants, more or less, according as they 
are intended for Teas or strong H.P.s, will do for 
the distance. 
It is plain that by thus raising our own briar 
cuttings we lose a year compared with the plan of 
buying them ready rooted. This difficulty should be 
overcome by buying rooted cuttings the first year, as 
