132 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chav. 



advice to choose a piece of clean soil free from weeds. 

 The shoots are close to the earth, and the first ones 

 grow horizontally almost on the gromid. Not only 

 therefore is it almost impossible to hoe them, but a 

 full growth of weeds can almost entirely smother 

 the briar shoots. The weeds must therefore be 

 hand-picked, a troublesome and unpleasant job. 



In the planting season they must all be dug up, 

 remembering how deep they are planted and that all 

 the roots which are to be utilised are at the bottom, 

 and the plants trimmed. All roots must be cut 

 cleanly off, except those proceeding from the very 

 base of the plants, and those retained shortened to 

 a uniform length. The growth at the tops may also 

 be shortened to two or three buds, and the plants 

 then transferred to their budding quarters. Here 

 they should be planted about two inches deep, care 

 being taken if possible to spread the roots out in 

 every direction, as few fresh ones will come from 

 the base of the cutting, and if there is a side on 

 which there are no roots the plant will never be firm 

 against the wind from that quarter. If the plants 

 are permanently to remain where they are budded, 

 the distance between each will depend upon the 

 varieties of Eoses worked on them, as explained on 

 p. 54. But if it is intended to move them after the 

 maiden growth of the Rose, nine inches apart 

 between the plants, more or less, according as they 

 are intended for Teas or strong H.P.s, will do for 

 the distance. 



It is plain that by thus raising our own briar 

 cuttings we lose a year compared with the plan of 

 buying them ready rooted. This difficulty should be 

 overcome by buying rooted cuttings the first year, as 



