132 THE ROSE GARDEN. 



After being inserted, the bud should be drawn upwards to the cross-cut, and the 

 upper end cut at the same angle, that its bark may abut against the bark of the 

 stock laid open by the cross-cut b. The bud then is inserted, and it now remains 

 to bind it in. For this purpose take worsted or bast ; the former is generally pre- 

 ferred. Commence tying at the bottom of the cut, passing upwards till the 

 whole length of the incision is bound over. Where the buds are feeble, or where 

 success is deemed important, it is customary to tie a little damp moss or a leaf 

 over the bud after the operation is completed, which is in no case objectionable, 

 except on account of the additional time it occupies. 



About three weeks after the operation has been performed the worsted may be 

 removed. If the bud is not well united, let it be tied up loosely again : if it is, 

 leave it untied, and there is an end of care till the following spring. In February 

 the wild shoot may be cut away two inches beyond the bud, when the latter will 

 break, and soon form a tree. It is often said that it is unnecessary for the bud to 

 remain so long dormant, and that it may be made to break ; and, if an Autumnal 

 Rose, even to flower the same year. We admit the truth of this statement, but 

 condemn the practice. It is accomplished by cutting off the wild shoot a few 

 inches above the bud, or by tying a ligature tightly round it at the same distance. 

 The object sought is, to cut off certain channels through which the sap naturally 

 flows, that it may become concentrated in the vicinity of the bud. The results 

 are, usually, premature development, and an unsound plant. Let a certain number 

 of plants be treated thus, and allow the buds inserted in others to lie dormant till 

 spring : defer judgment for one year, and see, at the expiration of that term, which 

 form the healthier and sounder plants. Unquestionably the latter. If the buds 

 break soon after inserted the shoots are puny and weakly, evidently suffering from 

 want of nourishment ; if allowed to lie dormant till spring, they have a rich store 

 of food at their command, and grow with surprising vigour. When a bud has 

 shot a few inches, and formed three or four good leaves, the heart of the shoot may 

 be pinched out, when, from the axil of each leaf, an eye will in time push forth. In 

 Majr the stock may be headed down close to where the bud has been inserted, and 

 if the growth be vigorous the wound made in so doing will quickly cicatrize, and 

 a perfect plant is the result. 



If the best time for budding be demanded, we should give July. It does not, 

 however, require great penetration to see that this point depends in some measure 

 on the season. The practised hand will cut and raise the bark to ascertain when 

 it parts freely from the wood ; the tyro will find a criterion in the prickles. If 

 slight pressure cause them to separate from the bark, the stocks are in good order, 

 and the fitness of the shoots or scions may be ascertained by the same test. If the 

 weather be hot and sunny, morning and evening are the best periods for budding. 

 A July sun pouring down his rays upon the operator is not altogether pleasant, 

 and, in regard to the operation, does not increase the chances of success. The 

 shoot from which the buds are to be taken should not be cut from the tree till we 



