348 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE CHAP. 
it is firmly and closely tied to a support. Raffia 
does not keep well in my pockets somehow: there 
should be supplies of it ready in places close at hand. 
Tea shoots should be thinned; harden your heart if 
you want good blooms: early trusses will require 
disbudding before the end of the month. Suckers 
should be pulled out or rubbed off as soon as they 
appear; in fact, there will now be hardly a plant 
which will not want a little attention pretty fre- 
quently. Liquid manure may be applied, particu- 
larly to those plants which are already showing 
flower buds; and hoeing, especially after rain or 
liquid applications, must on no account be neglected. 
A further light dressing of artificial manure may be 
desirable if there has been much heavy rain since 
February. Towards the end of the month Teas on 
sunny walls will be in bloom: let them all be cut as 
wanted, and not remain to seed on the plants. In- 
doors the Maréchal Niel will have been cut com- 
pletely back, by slow gradations as the blooms are 
gathered to the original horizontal old wood. Pot- 
plants which have bloomed should be hardened off 
by slow degrees that they may be put out in June. 
June.—Disbudding will be in progress for a time, 
of the later sorts. The plague of caterpillars will be 
waning, but those that remain will be far more 
dangerous, as they will now be found attacking the 
buds themselves. The shoots of all flexible varieties 
should be staked, the ties being made pretty close to 
the buds. Watering may be necessary if the weather 
is very dry, but it is probably better to give none at 
all if a thorough soaking cannot be managed. Hoe 
the next day after rain, watering, or liquid manure. 
