CULTUBE OF THE ROSE. 69 



of some other species of rose. The latter is called the 

 stock, and it should be of a hardy and vigorous nature. 

 Two conditions are essential to the process. The first is, 

 that the barfe of the stock will " slip ;" in other words, sepa- 

 rate freely from the wood. The second is, that the rose 

 to be increased should be furnished with young and sound 

 leaf-buds in a dormant state. These conditions are best 

 answered in summer and early autumn, from the first 

 of July to the middle of September. During the whole of 

 this period, the sap being in active motion, the bark sepa- 

 rates freely from the wood, while there is always a supply 

 of plump and healthy buds on shoots of the same year's 

 growth. The only implement necessary is a budding-knife. 

 The operator should also provide himself with strings of 

 bass-matting, moistened to make them pliant. Instead 

 of the bass, cotton-wicking is occasionally used. Cut well- 

 ripened shoots of the variety to be increased, provided 

 with plump and healthy buds. In order to prevent ex- 

 haustion by evaporation from the surface of the leaves, 

 these should be at once cut off; leaving, however, about 

 half an inch of the leaf-stalk still attached to the stem. 

 Insert the knife in the bark of the stem half an inch above 

 a bud, and then pass it smoothly downward to the distance 

 of half an inch below the bud, thus removing the latter 



