122 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



packing of them takes some time, and I should 

 advise the making of a rule that whoever asks for 

 buds by post should send labels with the names and 

 the number of buds required, as this will save some 

 trouble at least. From budding Roses, the amateur 

 will very likely be led on to budding his own 

 Apples on Paradise, and his own Plums and other 

 fruit-trees, and his interest in all these features 

 of the garden will be much increased when his 

 own hands have thus propagated his fruits and his 

 flowers. 



I would strongly advise the enthusiastic amateur, 

 if he lives quite in the country and has plenty of 

 room, to get and raise his own stocks. Not only 

 because it will greatly add to the interest of the 

 matter and save expense, but also because the 

 stocks themselves, especially standards, will be 

 stronger and better. A sufficient number can be 

 raised every year by one man to keep up a collection 

 of Eoses large enough to enable him to show in 

 the highest amateur classes. As standards un- 

 doubtedly produce as a rule the finest Tea Eoses, 

 and there are probably few amateurs who personally 

 get their own stocks from the hedges, I will 

 endeavour to describe my mode of procedure. 



First, as to outfit : — I never had any special suit, 

 but an old one each year is condemned to the work, 

 and verily it is never likely to be used for anything 

 else afterwards. In a short time it is more fitted 

 for a scarecrow than a parson, but my craze is 

 known, and I keep to the fields. An old hat capable 

 of protecting the ears is necessary, for you must get 

 your head into the very thick of it ; and strong 

 boots and gaiters will of course be required. One 



