36 Roses for Amateurs 



Disbudding. 



And now comes a time when the difference between one 

 who merely grows for his garden and one who grows for 

 exhibition is very decidedly marked namely, in the dis- 

 budding of the Roses. Moreover, we feel assured that the 

 former would soon find that he would get more enjoyment 

 from his plants if he followed the exhibitor's practice. Some 

 varieties of Roses have only one flower at the end of the 

 shoot ; others have three or four, crowded together, and the 

 question arises, " Are we to have one good, really good, 

 flower, or three or four indifferent ones? " People who see 

 grand blossoms of Roses at exhibitions, want to know why 

 they cannot get such flowers ; they have the varieties, they 

 spare no expense, and yet they cannot get such blossoms. 

 We are convinced that, in a great many cases, the unwilling- 

 ness to disbud is at the bottom of it ; but, as in pruning, one 

 has need to have courage, and to act upon it. It seems a pity 

 to pull off such a number of blossoms, and so it does to cut 

 away apparently flourishing shoots ; but it must be done, and 

 the best way is to remove the extra buds with a blunt quill 

 or a toothpick. If those who delight in their Roses were 

 only to try the disbudding they would find it well worth the 

 trouble. In the same way, staking the shoots, which is 

 resorted to by exhibitors, is considered too troublesome for 

 the ordinary grower; and, undoubtedly, if it can be done 

 without, the Rose-garden will look better. 



Almost equally as important as the removal of super- 

 fluous flower-buds is that of getting rid of certain leaf-buds 

 by the process known as " rubbing out," on very much the 

 same principle as that obtaining in the cultivation of fruit- 

 trees. If by allowing a bud to remain a badly-shaped tree 

 is likely to result, the better plan is to rub it out. With very 

 vigorous-growing varieties it is not uncommon for Rose 

 specialists to rub out all misplaced buds those that grow 

 inwards and are likely to fill up the tree or that are situated 



