HOW TO BUD ROSES. 25 
shoot until it enters the cross cut first made. If a proper bud- 
ding-knife with a flat handle is used, it can now be reversed, 
and the bark raised at both sides by running the bone along be- 
neath the cut edges. . 
There are two salient points connected with the buds. One 
is to keep them fresh ; the other is to get out the wood without 
pulling the growing germ away with it. A little variation in the 
size of the bud, or in the time of budding, is nothing serious ; 
but these points are vital. Beginners should always cut the 
buds out rather long. Suppose that a healthy summer shoot as 
thick asa small cigarette is taken. One inch above aleaf gently 
slide the sharp edge of a knife through the bark, and draw it 
down underneath the leaf, about half-way through the shoot, 
bringing it up 1 inch below the leaf, and then slicing off with ita 
tail of bark. Crop off the leaf, except for 4 inch of stump, turn the bud 
cut face upward, and twist the “tail ” round one finger, holding 
it firmly with another. Drawing back this “ tail” will cause the 
wood to rise, so that it can be grasped between the finger and 
thumb and pulled out. If the small green germ, not much bigger 
than a pin’s head, which lies in the hollow of the bud, comes out 
with the wood, leaving nothing but a mere shell of bark, throw 
the bud away and get another. With practice, it will be found 
that the bud can be so manipulated as to get the wood away 
without pulling forth the germ. When that art is mastered, the 
principal stumbling block is removed. 
Keeping the buds fresh is simple. As fast as they are pre- 
pared they should be dropped into a vessel of water, and directly 
enough are ready to bud a few of the standards, get it done. 
Insert each bud, see that the edges of the bark evenly overlap 
it, and then bind the whole gently but firmly round from top to 
bottom with soft worsted. 
It can very soon be seen if the buds are not going to take, 
for they will begin to shrivel. If they remain fresh they will 
grow, but if they remain dormant all the winter so much the 
better. When they start in spring, cut back the Brier shoots, 
_ leaving only a stump a few inches long to tie the young Rose 
shoots to as they develop. At the end of the first growing 
season the stumps may be cut away, and the standard is a Brier 
no longer, but a full-fledged Rose. Fig 9(p. 24), shows a growing shoot 
oe for yielding buds, the buds, and their insertion in the 
shoots. 
Propagation by cuttings presents no serious difficulties. 
Ripe, brownish pieces of the current years growth, 8 or 
9 inches long, with a piece of the older wood, termed a “ heel,”’ 
at the base, are suitable, and they should be prepared and in- 
serted in September. It is well to put them in deeply, say, 
two-thirds of their length, and make the soil firm. Should the 
frost heave them up in winter, tread the soil back again directly 
it scftens. I have rarely seen better Roses of any class than the 
