192 THE BOOK OF THE HOSE chap. 



left on till the end. Only experience, a good knowledge 

 of the habit of the variet}^ 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 on it 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, 

 of the lower wood buds should be allowed to 

 grow out, and they may form perhaps almost as good 

 blooms as the older one. 



The central bud should be carefully examined before 

 it is entrusted alone with the sole responsibility of the 

 shoot. Any insect perforation however small, or any 

 unusual appearance or sign of deformity, should cause 

 the dethronement of the crown bud at once, and the 

 election of the most perfect of its two or three com- 

 panions in its place. Even Avith the utmost vigilance 

 many a fine bud will be tended and cared for and only 

 found to be malformed at the very last when it should 

 be in perfection and ready for show. 



Where there is still a choice of buds later on when 

 the first signs of colour are visible, signs of malformation 

 may often be detected in an uneven appearance of the 

 green calyx enclosing the petals. If this is irregularly 

 disposed so that more colour show\s on one side of the 

 bud than the other there is a strong probability of 

 there being a deformed arrangement of the petals, 



