xI EXHIBITING 215 
getting on, not a single bud of any description 
remained on the rows which they had devastated. 
The rule has its exceptions: there are certain 
Roses which are apt to come coarse, or too full, so 
as to be too long in opening if they are over-freely 
supplied with sap. The treatment in these cases 
must be modified, the small buds being gradually 
destroyed, or one or more left on till the end. With 
some varieties, known as bad openers, the crown 
bud should not be “taken” (to use a phrase of 
chrysanthemum culture) but removed, and a side 
shoot with a bud selected in its place. Her Majesty, 
Robert Scott, and Ernest Metz are the better for 
this treatment: and, as a general rule, where any 
bloom comes “‘ balled,” 7.e. the petals covering the 
centre point and coming down the other side so 
that the flower cannot open, is a sign that the 
growth is too strong. In such a case, less “ liberal 
treatment,” 7.e., less pruning, less thinning, perhaps 
_less manure, or even the pinching off the crown bud, 
is called for. Only experience, a good knowledge of 
the habit of the variety, and a regard to the strength 
and number of shoots on each plant and the 
character of the weather can guide the grower in 
this most needful regulation of sap supply. If the 
season be hot and dry more buds may be taken away, 
as the Roses will open easier and the natural supply 
of sap will be less and more quickly assimilated. 
The same caution must be exercised with maiden 
plants: some of the weakly growers will give the best 
blooms if only a single stem with one bud onit be left. 
But many would come coarse or deformed under such 
treatment: and in these cases if there be only one 
maiden shoot, one or two, according to the weather, 
