130 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



slightly defrauded; but my Eosarian conscience 

 was against it, for I knew that to the Suffolk 

 rustic both briars and blackberries were " brumble 

 bushes." 



An amateur will want even more briar cuttings 

 than standard stocks. These are cheap to buy, 

 ready rooted for next year's budding, and it is not 

 always easy to raise a good crop of them at home. 

 There is a good deal of trouble connected with it, 

 and it may perhaps be said that all this extra labour 

 to raise one's own stocks is like the enthusiasm of 

 the man who blacked himself all over to play 

 Othello. Still, too much enthusiasm is better than 

 too little, and as I can raise better briar cuttings 

 than I can buy, the way to do it shall be described. 



It is rather a monotonous business, with much 

 less interest in it than the getting of standard 

 stocks. About the middle of October is the time 

 for commencing operations, which should be got 

 over before the planting of Eoses and rooted stocks 

 is undertaken. The ripest possible wood of the 

 year's growth should be chosen and cut up into 

 lengths of ten inches. Material for this choice will 

 be found in the wild growth of the briar stocks 

 budded that year, and only pieces without any 

 lateral growth should be selected. The cuttings 

 should now be trimmed with a sharp knife, every 

 bud except the two nearest the top being clean cut 

 out with the knife, not rubbed off with the fingers, 

 and all the thorns removed. All this is important, 

 as every other bud or part of a bud left will be sure 

 to produce a sucker, and the thorns will prove a 

 hindrance in many ways if suffered to remain. The 

 bottom of the shoot should be a clean cut, not too 



