IX PESTS 191 



To find out for certain what buds have been 

 injured by the frost will take more time and patience. 

 By no means remove them in a hurry ; some will 

 soon be seen to become a paler green with white un- 

 healthy-looking blotches on them. One or two of 

 the worst of these might be cut open, and if the 

 rudimentary petals are brown, the bud is rotten and 

 would soon drop off of its own accord. Others may 

 be tested by pinching, when the points of some will 

 be found soft and hollow ; these are of no use. 

 Gradually thin and disbud them : take off no side 

 buds till you have settled whether the crown bud is 

 worth leaving or which of the others is the best ; or, 

 remove only the worst at each time of inspection 

 till there are only two between which to choose. 

 The lower side buds of Teas, if the parts above them 

 are removed, will often make a good bit of growth, 

 and practically become the main stem. Above all, 

 remember, after a severe May frost, that the power 

 of recuperation in the main shoots of a Eose, while 

 they are yet soft, young and growing, is very great 

 indeed ; but nevertheless it must be confessed that 

 no embryo bud which is in existence during a frost 

 that injures the leaves is likely to come to any 

 good. 



