34 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



to an end without a bud), and even if the bud is still 

 to be found apparently sound it has probably received 

 some permanent injury or disfiguration that will 

 render it valueless, but cannot be detected till it is 

 too late. In such cases it would be advisable to 

 remember that the injury is almost always worse 

 than it appears to be at first, and that if the growth 

 is not far advanced the sooner the damaged shoots 

 are removed the better. Of course, too many blind 

 shoots should not be removed, especially if they are 

 the strongest, or if the plant has been lately moved, 

 for such treatment would be likely to seriously 

 weaken the whole season's growth. 



Even the native briar standard stocks, just trans- 

 planted from the hedges, will sometimes suffer ; and 

 many thousands were thus destroyed in nursery 

 grounds in the winter of 1890-91. In one year in 

 the eighties many of my standard H.P.s were thus 

 destroyed, and in almost every case the injury — the 

 frost-bite — was not to the Rose, but to the stock, 

 black dead places, looking like actual bites, appear- 

 ing in the stems. This was an exceptional case, 

 and it does seem odd, as we rarely see a wild briar 

 injured by frost, that the same plant should be more 

 tender when transferred to a garden ; but we must 

 remember that standard stocks for budding have 

 nearly all their fibrous roots cut off, and that 

 they are generally taken from a sheltered place and 

 planted right out in the open, much more exposed 

 to evaporation, and are often perhaps allowed to 

 become dry at the root in moving. It is plain, 

 therefore, that, as frost is such an enemy to the 

 Rose-grower, a situation should be sought where 

 the least damage of this sort may be expected. 



