188 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— June 10,1850. 
NOTES ON BUDDING ROSES. 
I have lately been drawing up a few notes on the above 
subject for the use of a friend, and it has struck me that, 
as the season for budding is now approaching, a copy of 
them might be acceptable to some of your readers as well 
as to my friend. They are selected from various publica¬ 
tions on the subject, such as “ Rivers’ Rose Amateur’s 
Guide,” “ The Tree Rose,"* Ac., with a few hints from my 
own experience. 
I do not attempt to describe the operation of budding, 
both because it is so well known, and because it is learnt by 
any one, who is not acquainted with it, so much sooner and 
better by seeing it performed once, than by a page of direc¬ 
tions, but proceed at once to my notes. 
The stocks for budding ought to be planted where they 
are to stand until the head is formed, not later than Novem¬ 
ber, or the first week in December. Those planted in the 
spring generally send out weakly shoots, and frequently fail 
altogether the first year, although they recover and make 
strong growth the following spring. The shoots to be 
budded having been selected, every other bud upon the 
stock must be rubbed off as it appears, so as to throw the 
whole strength of the plant into those allowed to grow. 
They should not, generally, exceed three in number, and 
should be as close together as can be conveniently obtained, 
in order to secure a good well-formed head in a short space 
of time. 
In selecting your bud, choose one which is round and full, 
quite closed, and healthy ; out of several on a shoot, those 
from the centre are to be preferred. The base buds are 
more likely to be dormant, and those at the top will be 
weak and frequently a little open. The buds should be 
taken from an autumnal, not from a spring shoot—in other 
words, from wood-shoots, not llower-shoots; from shoots 
which are not going to flower, not from shoots which have 
borne tiowers at their extremities; although these last may 
do if none other can be obtained, especially if the sort be 
Chinese or Hybrid. It may further assist in selecting the 
best to mention, that flower-buds are oval; wood-buds are 
pyramidal. If a twig of a Rose be sent you, or carried home 
from a neighbour’s garden, and you do not find it convenient 
to bud it at the moment, place the twig in water, or, what 
is infinitely better, bury the whole of it in moderately moist 
earth ; this prevents evaporation, and the twig will be pre¬ 
served fit for use for some days. 
When you have cut off your bud, in removing the wood 
from the shield, begin above the bud, not below, and be 
careful that the edges of the bark of the shield are smooth 
and clean, not rough and jagged, or bruised. 
Take pains to make the shield fit exactly at the cross cut, 
as the first junction takes place thereby the descending sap. 
With respect to the shape and position of the cut in the 
stock, Mr. Rivers recommends that it be made tiius "X , in¬ 
stead of in the usual manner thus X, and he states that 
buds inserted in this manner are seldom torn out, or broken 
by the wind, an accident which not unfrequently happens 
to those budded in the old method, particularly if the bud 
has made good growth during the autumn. 
The material for tying commonly made use of is bast, 
either common or Cuba ; of the two, I am inclined to prefer 
the common, as possessing less rigidity than Cuba, and yet 
having sufficient strength for the purpose. Mr. Rivers, 
however (and his authority is too high to be safely neglected), 
asserts, that cotton-twist, such as the tallow-chandlers use 
for the wicks of candles—the finest quality—is preferable 
to any other material for this purpose. Others of consi¬ 
derable experience recommend lamb’s wool, as being more 
elastic than cotton twist. There is no doubt, however, that 
any of these will answer the purpose, if properly applied. 
This is the next point: the bud being properly placed, lay 
the bast, or other material, across the bottom of the inci¬ 
sion (next the stock), and keep crossing it up to the cross 
cut, leaving the bud peeping out free and unconfined, and 
tie the knot under the shoot; if tied above it holds wet, and 
may cause the bud to rot. A rhubarb or other leaf may be 
laid on the top of all the two or three shoots, or n laurel 
leaf tied to the shoot at both ends, so as to form an arch 
over the bud. 
* “ The Tree Rose ” is uot to be depended upon as an authority.—E d. 
The ligature may be removed a month or six weeks after 
budding, or the centre part of it cut just opposite to the 
bud, and the whole removed three or four weeks later ; or 
the first ligature may be removed and replaced with a 
broader bast, not quite so tight. 
Suppose the bud to have been inserted in July, in the Oc¬ 
tober following the budding shoots should be shortened to 
eight or ten inches, but not sooner. 
In March, or the beginning of April, in the succeeding 
spring, the shoots must be pruned to the one eye or bud 
nearest to the inserted bud, and the top of the stock cut 
close off to the base of the shoot, slanting at an angle of 
50°. Mr. Rivers (I think) says, that the thickness of stock, 
left above a bud, should not exceed that of a sheet of writ¬ 
ing paper. The author of “ The Tree Rose ” says :—“ In 
trimming to a bud, barely the thickness of a sixpence should 
be left above the bud, and the incision should form a slant 
about equal to that caused by dividing a square from angle 
to angle.” 
The wild bud, above named, is to be allowed to grow, until 
it has got two or three pairs of leaves, and then stopped by 
nipping off the point with the finger and thumb. The in¬ 
serted bud will then shoot vigorously, and when it is four or 
five inches long, the wild bud may bo cut off nearer its base, 
but not removed entirely ; nor must it be allowed long side- 
shoots, but barely left alive to maintain the bark at the end 
of the branch, and the succeeding March, or even at Mid¬ 
summer, if vigorous, the shoot may be cut off close to the 
inserted bud. The tree is then fit for removal into its place 
in the flower-garden or rosary. In pruning, two, or at most 
three, buds only should be left upon each shoot of the last 
year. During the winter, after budding, if the bud has 
made any growth, it is desirable to tie a light stick to the 
upper end of the stock, to which the head may be attached 
by a tie of bast.—Quis. 
DESTROYING GOOSEBERRY CATERPILLARS 
I find, in The Cottage Gardener for May fitli, a good 
deal said about the Gooseberry Caterpillar by Mr. Robert 
Hogg, of Bogan Green. Now, without offering any remarks 
about the trouble and expense, in many cases, of " : ng 
tanners’ bark, however well it may answer the pn -^eof 
destroying the Caterpillar, allow me to tell you of something 
that you will find equally effectual for the purpose, and at 
less than the tenth part of either the trouble or expense. 
Take an old earthen jar that will hold four quarts of water, 
put into that quantity of water one ounce of white hellebore, 
which you can get from any druggists, and will not cost 
more than threepence. This quantity will destroy the Cater¬ 
pillars upon 150 ordinary sized bushes. 
The way to use it is—on a dry day to shake up your jar 
well to mix its contents, then to take out the quantity you 
intend to use into a basin, and with an old paint or white¬ 
wash brush sprinkle the part of the bushes that are attacked. 
Observe always to keep the jar closely .corked from the air. 
You will find this a most effectual cure, both for Caterpillar 
or Gooseberries, and also for Green Fly on Roses, green¬ 
house plants, or Vines. I have tried it for four years, and 
at all stages of the Caterpillar, never failing in thoroughly 
cleaning the plants. — Waiter Ballantyne, Irvine House, 
Langholm, Dumfrieshire. 
WHITE BEDDING PLANT. 
Among white bedding plants for early bloomers, wdl the 
Editor of The Cottage Gardener allow “An Old Sub¬ 
scriber” to suggest that he should not omit Double White 
Saxifrage, which she finds invaluable for filling a small bed 
or edging a large one? It is perfectly hardy, of the easiest 
culture, increases rapidly, is a very free, constant bloomer, 
and pure white in colour. Tho foliage is pretty and com¬ 
pact when out of bloom, and the plant may be moved at all 
times of the your. 
