122 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ June, 
ently removed. Some discretion is necessary in this operation, and the number 
of blooms to be left must depend on the variety, whether full or thin in the 
flower, and Avhether for exhibition or for bearing seed. Taking a great interest in 
obtaining seed, I have never disbudded to the extent I otherwise should. Some 
notes kindly written out for me by Mr. Rudd, which will be found printed 
at p. 124, will be of great service to those who may be unacquainted with 
the habit of the several varieties described. Experienced growers of course 
need none of these specialities, but I need scarcely say I don’t write for experi¬ 
enced growers. I go back rather to my earlier years, and remembering how gladly 
I read such hints at that time, hope to meet the wants of any now similarly 
circumstanced. With new varieties, if quite in ignorance of their character— 
not often the case, with the ready means of diffusing information now-a-days— 
I should feel my way, watching for the appearance of the bud, and being guided 
• by that, and by the state of the plant, as to the number to be left. A little 
careful observation will soon inform the least experienced. If “ full,” and of 
strong growth, three buds may be left; if ‘‘ thin,” two buds; and if of weakly 
growth, one bud only. As a rule, the buds to be left will be the main bud and 
those proceeding from the third and fourth joint, counting from the top, but the 
operator must be guided in his selection by the appearance of the buds,—their 
vigour, healthiness, and regularity of form. A “ full ” flower may be expected 
' where the young bud presents a broad obtuse top, whilst a “ thin ” variety is 
generally indicated by a sharp and long pointed bud. 
As the buds swell, a gentle application of weak manure-water will greatly 
assist them, and towards the end of the month, some of the earlier varieties will 
require tying, to prevent the otherwise, for exhibitional purposes, fatal calamity 
of a split pod. For this purpose, I prefer a strip of soft bast matting, or the 
Eoffla grass which now so generally takes its place. As this operation next, 
after the violence of disbudding, most interferes with the natural habit of the 
plant, leading to the unfolding of the petals in order and symmetry, where other¬ 
wise would be shapelessness and confusion, I have often wondered that the hyper¬ 
critical gentlemen—one in a generation—who rise up to take exception, more or 
less, to the work of the florist, and to require “ first-rate flowers, combining all 
possible beauties, from Nature’s hands,” do not assail this practice ; and it is, to 
me, a conclusive proof of their inability to see the work of the cultivator as a 
whole, and to note the intimate and necessary connection of each part and prac¬ 
tice with its preceding link, that they see “ deception ” and “ dishonesty ” in the 
work, or rather art, of the dresser, and offer no opposition to ‘‘ disbudding ” or 
“tying of the buds.” And as to “first-rate flowers, combining all possible 
beauties from Nature’s hands,”—where are we to find them ? And in what 
part of the earth is the fiat of the Almighty, laid upon man, doubtlessly in 
mercy, to run unregarded, “ In the sweat of thy hrow shaft thou eat bread ? ” 
It would be amusing, if we could imagine these very fanciful gentlemen to be 
logical, to require of them to apply their pet theory of “ first-rate flowers, com- 
