226 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ October, 
Window Garden Society will supply,* will be one of nature’s stimulants. Another 
and one more lasting in character may be obtained by getting a bone or two, 
drying them well before the fire, oyer it, or in it—it matters not which—and 
with a hammer or even a flat-iron breaking the bone up into small pieces, as 
small as you can make them. Use a dessert or table spoonful of these, according 
to the size of the pot, to mix with your soil, and you have a storehouse of food 
that will last the plant for a year or two. Put what you have left over in a dry 
place, and it will do for the next time. A little charcoal broken small is also 
a good thing ; not that it contains much nourishment in itself, but like a sponge, 
it absorbs any moisture near it. The charcoal also sucks and stores up all the 
bad gases in the atmosphere, and gives them out to the plant as the roots require 
them.—J. C. Niven (abridged from a Tract issued by the Hull Window Garden¬ 
ing Society). 
ROSES AND ROSE-CULTURE. 
Chapter XIII.— On Propagation. 
UDDING is an operation now very generally understood, but nevertheless 
a few remarks on the subject may not be altogether uninteresting. 
Budding is best done in July and August. If the weather be hot and 
sunny, morning and evening are the best periods of the day, both for the 
operation and the operator. Cloudy weather, although not absolutely necessary, 
is considered preferable to sunny, but then it does not always suit to wait for 
this or that particular time or state of the weather. The shoots from which the 
buds are about to be taken should be firm and ripe, and the buds or eyes dormant. 
Trim the leaves off, but do not remove the leaf-stalks. Let me presume that 
the operator is standing over the stock about to be budded, the wild shoot in his 
left hand, the budding-knife in his right hand. First draw the point of the 
knife along the wild shoot, making a cut about an inch in length, just deep 
enough to pass through the bark; this cut has been made horizontally, in the 
direction in which the shoot grows. A cross-cut at the upper or top end is. 
now desirable, in order that the bud may be easily slipped beneath the 
bark. Now*’ pass the handle of the knife along the horizontal line previously 
marked out with the point, slightly twisting the handle so as to raise the 
bark on either side. Next turn to the shoot containing the buds, and 
commence cutting”about a quarter of an inch behind the bud ; let the knife 
dip slightly as it passes under the bud, rising again immediately afterwards, 
and gradually passing outwards. The bud when cut from the shoot 
should be from one-lialf to three-quarters of an inch long. If the bud has 
been cut thin, it is a matter of indifference whether or not the wood be with¬ 
drawn ; but under other circumstances, this is advisable. Separate the wood and 
bark by inserting the point of the knife at the lower end of the bud ; hold the 
* Mr. Niven, after pointing out the difficulties which town residents of the humbler class have in pro¬ 
curing suitable soil for plant culture, suggests that the societies which take interest in this subject should 
provide a supply for gratuitous distribution. 
