II 



2 feet apart, the men work in batches of threes. After the fields have 

 been well cleaned of weeds, the first man goes along the row and places 

 a long piece of wood on top of the briars, treads on it, and so bends 

 the briars away from him ; he then scrapes the soil from around the 

 plants till he comes to the roots, with a small three-pronged fork 

 having the prongs at right angles to the fork.* He then cleans 

 the "root stem" with a piece of cloth. The next man then starts; 

 he is the budder proper. He brings his shoots containing the buds 

 with him in a box of damp moss, taking them out as he needs them. 

 The buds have been cut for him by some very experienced hand. The 

 selecting of the buds from the plants is most important. To get the 

 best results only well-ripened shoots that are carrying a flower bud, 

 or such as. a bloom has been recently cut from, should be selected. 

 The shoots are cleaned before starting, taking off all the prickles and 

 leaves, leaving only a small piece to the petiole. 



A budding knife is the only tool necessary. Make a longitudinal 

 cut, about an inch in length, as near the base of the plant as possible. 

 The nearer you: get to the base the less chance there is of suckers 

 coming up. Some people bud on the young shoots of the briar and 

 put two or three buds on the same plant ; this of course has to be done 

 in the case of standards, but is absolutely wrong where dwarfs are 

 concerned ; you get a better plant by budding low down, and suckers 

 are reduced to a minimum. At the top of this longitudinal cut make 

 a cross cut (T), taking care not to cut too deeply; through the bark 

 is all that is necessary. Open the bark by inserting the handle of 

 the knife in the cut. The stock is then ready to receive the bud. 

 Cut the bud with half an. inch of bark above and below it. Gently 

 raise the bark on both sides and slip the bud in, pushing it by means 

 of the petiole to the base of the incision. When this operation is 

 finished the eye should be about the centre of the cut. If any of the 

 bark projects at the top it should be cut off. This being finished, the 

 third man comes along and binds in the bud, using raffia for the purpose. 

 Commence tying in at the base of the cut, passing upwards until 

 the whole cut is bound over ; the operation is then completed. They 

 require no further attention now until the end of January or February, 

 when the wild plant is cut off close to the bud, and a stake put in to 

 tie the young plant to as it grows. A plant thus treated will grow 

 into a good plant, and flower in June of the following year. 



The best time for budding is towards the end of June (if buds 

 in good condition can be obtained), July, and August. 



The time for the operation necessarily varies to some extent 

 according to the season. You cannot, of course, bud until the stock 

 is of sufficient size and the bark running freely ; the wood from which 

 the bud is taken must have time to ripen. 



Grafting. — ^This method 'of propagation is used principally for 

 roses under glass, but Austrian Briars, Wichuraianas, and most of the 

 Multifloras are increased in^this way. 



• Fork-handle.— F. J. C. 



