ROSE STOCKS 201 



oneself, armed with axe, saw, and knife, and wearing a 

 very old suit of clothes. In " A Book about Roses," 

 Dean Hole says that he always knew when the time 

 had arrived for planting Briers, as his Brier man then 

 appeared in church. Having obtained a supply of good 

 Briers, with stems neither very green nor withered, 

 cut off a considerable amount of the " knob " or root 

 stock, but preserve all the fibrous roots. Reduce the 

 length of the stems to from two and a half to four feet. 

 All lateral shoots should be cut off as closely to the stem 

 as possible. Plant in rows three feet apart, placing the 

 Briers one foot apart in the rows. The roots must not 

 be planted more than about seven or eight inches deep, 

 and the soil should be trodden firmly about them. As 

 the stocks sprout into growth in spring, reduce the 

 number of shoots on each to three or four near the top. 

 The bud is inserted in two or three of these side shoots 

 in summer, and the uppermost shoot is left on to be 

 budded in case the other buds fail. 



Cutting Brier. — ^This is obtained from cuttings of the 

 Wild Brier. They are preferred by exhibitors, as the 

 ■roots keep nearer the surface and consequently benefit 

 more quickly from manurial top dressings. Moreover, 

 the flowers appear earlier. Except for rose growing for 

 exhibitors, I do not recommend the cutting Brier. It 

 produces a big plant, but gives rise to innumerable sucker 

 growths. These Often run for a yard or two beneath the 

 surface before they appear above. The cuttings are 

 made by cutting the well-ripened current year's growths 

 of the Brier into pieces, each ten or twelve inches long. 



