VIII 



PROPAGATION 



125 



when the wood will come out satisfactorily than older 

 and more attractive looking buds which cannot be 

 properly prepared. 



As a rule, buds should always be taken from a shoot 

 which has, or has had, a good bloom on it. Some sorts, 

 like Francois Michelon, often have long strong flower- 

 less shoots, with plenty of good wood buds on them. 

 If these buds be used there is a strong probability of 

 no flowers being produced the first year. In Tea Roses, 

 the next bud to the bloom is often flattish and pointed 

 instead of round and plump. These should not be 

 used, as they will often produce, if they take, just a 

 poor little bloom upon an inch or two of stalk, perhaps 

 with no leaves at all, and soon die. 



The chosen shoots should be cut off with scissors, 

 and all the leaves immediately snipped off, leaving 

 about an inch of footstalk to each. This is not only 

 for convenience, since it must be done before the 

 buds are used, but also because evaporation takes 

 place through the leaves, and the whole shoot will soon 

 wither if they are left on. A quantity of buds may be 

 carried about for some time without taking any harm if 

 the leaves are thus removed at once : but if a great 

 quantity is taken at a time, or the buds have been 

 received by post, it is better to carry them about in 

 water. 



Standard stocks are budded upon the laterals, the 

 growth of the year, as close to the upright stem as 

 possible. The general practice is to bud two branches, 

 though only one is necessary. Should both of these fail, 

 a use will be found for the other laterals, which have 

 not been removed for the reasons given above, for it will 

 be better to bud on these fresh shoots as the reserved 

 ground than on one where a bud has already failed. 



