348 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



it is firmly and closely tied to a support. Eaffia 

 does not keep well in my pockets somehow: there 

 should be supplies of it ready in places close at hand. 

 Tea shoots should be thinned ; harden your heart if 

 you want good blooms: early trusses will require 

 disbudding before the end of the month. Suckers 

 should be pulled out or rubbed off as soon as they 

 appear ; in fact, there will now be hardly a plant 

 which will not want a little attention pretty fre- 

 quently. Liquid manure may be applied, particu- 

 larly to those plants which are already showing 

 flower buds; and hoeing, especially after rain or 

 liquid applications, must on no account be neglected. 

 A further light dressing of artificial manure may be 

 desirable if there has been much heavy rain since 

 February. Towards the end of the month Teas on 

 sunny walls will be in bloom : let them all be cut as 

 wanted, and not remain to seed on the plants. In- 

 doors the Marechal Niel will have been cut com- 

 pletely back, by slow gradations as the blooms are 

 gathered to the original horizontal old wood. Pot- 

 plants which have bloomed should be hardened off 

 by slow degrees that they may be put out in June. 



June. — Disbudding will be in progress for a time, 

 of the later sorts. The plague of caterpillars will be 

 waning, but those that remain will be far more 

 dangerous, as they will now be found attacking the 

 buds themselves. The shoots of all flexible varieties 

 should be staked, the ties being made pretty close to 

 the buds. Watering may be necessary if the weather 

 is very dry, but it is probably better to give none at 

 all if a thorough soaking cannot be managed. Hoe 

 the next day after rain, watering, or liquid manure. 



