176 CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 



gradually die out, and rose bushes be generally employed for 

 single planting, or for grouping upon the lawn. 



In budding, there are two requisites : a well-established and 

 thriftily growing plant, and a well-matured eye or bud. The 

 operation can be performed at any season when these requisites 

 can be obtained. In the open ground, the wood from which the 

 buds are cut, is generally not mature until after the first summer 

 bloom. 



Having ascertained by running a knife under the bark, that 

 the stock will peel easily, and having some perfectly ripe young 

 shoots with buds upon them, the operation can be performed with 

 a sharp knife that is round and very thin at the point. Make in 

 the bark of the stock a longitudinal incision of three-quarters^of 

 an inch, and another short one across the top as in fig. 13 ; run 

 the knife under the bark and loosen it from the wood ; then cut 

 from one of the young shoots of the desired variety, a bud as in 

 fig. 14 ; placing the knife a quarter to three-eighths of an inch 

 above the eye or bud, and cutting out about the same distance 

 below it, cutting sufficiently near the bud to take with it a very 

 thin scale of the wood. English gardeners will always peel off 

 this thin scale ; but in our hot climate, it should always be left 

 on, as it assists to keep the bud moist, and does not at all prevent 

 the access of the sap from the stock to the bud. The bud being 

 thus prepared, take it, by the portion of leaf-stalk attached, between 

 the thumb and finger in the left hand, and, with the knife in the 

 right, open the incision in the bark sufficiently to allow the bud 

 to be slipped in as far as it will go, when the bark will close over 

 and retain it. Then take a mat-string, or a piece of yarn, and 

 firmly bind it around the bud, leaving only the petiole and bud 

 exposed, as in fig. 12. The string should be allowed to remain 

 for about two weeks, or until the bud is united to the stock. If 

 allowed to remain longer, it will sometimes cut into the bark of 

 the rapidly growing stock, but is productive of no other injury. 

 It is the practice with many cultivators to cut off the top of the 

 stock above the bud immediately after inoculation. A limited 

 acquaintance with vegetable physiology would convince the cul- 



