156 



THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



inch long, cut off all but two, which will be allowed to 

 grow, to be budded, at the height required, selecting 

 strong healthy buds, as near to and as opposite to each 

 other as possible. Into these the whole vigour of the 

 briar will be directed. 



Budding may be performed from June to September. ■ 

 Suppose that in July, after a thunderstorm, you receive 

 a twig of a matchless rose. Take it in your left hand ; 

 look out for a plump, healthy, dormant bud ; cut off the 

 leaf, leaving half an inch of the footstalk ; insert your knife 

 a quarter or a third of an inch above the bud ; cut down- 

 wards, and bring it out a quarter of an inch below ; remove 

 with your thumb-nail the woody portion, leading a small 

 shield of bark with a bud in the centre. This is the bud you 

 want to make grow on your briar. To keep it moist, 

 while you are preparing its new resting-place, you may 

 drop it, if you like, into a glass of water ; a snugger and 

 more convenient receptacle is at hand — your mouth. 

 Mr. Rivers says : — " The operation of budding is difficult 

 to describe. A longitudinal cut, not so deep as to cut 

 into the wood, but merely through the bark, should be 

 made in the clear part of the shoot ; thus, A* , making the 

 diagonal cut at the top of the incision. I differ from 

 most of those who have given directions for budding, as 

 they make the incision thus, T ; my practice has arisen 

 from the frequent inconvenience sustained by shoots, 

 from standard stocks k being broken off by the wind when 

 the cut is made at right angles : with the diagonal in- 

 cision an accident rarely happens." Any suggestion 

 from Mr. Rivers demands respectful attention; it is 

 therefore mentioned here, before proceeding with our 

 oivn instructions. 



On the branch to be budded, make two slits in the 

 bark like the two straight lines which form the letter T. 

 The perpendicular stroke will run along the branch, and 

 terminate where it springs from the main stem ; it must 

 be a little longer than the bud you intend to insert. 

 The horizontal stroke will be formed by a cut across the 

 branch, and must be a little wider than the bud you want 



