54 
PROPAGATION OF THE ROSE. 
string; take hold of the stock firmly, and shorten both the branches 
to a foot, or even less; then with your knife, cut a slit in the bark, 
within half an inch of the base of the branch upward, and on the upper 
side, an inch and a half long; about the middle of this slit, make a 
small cut across; then with your ivory, or thin wood—or more 
properly, if you have it, with the handle of your budding knife—raise 
up the bark on both sides; then take the branch of your rose tree 
from which you take your buds, and with your sharp knife, shave out 
of the branch a thin piece of the wood, beginning half an inch below 
a leaf, and taking the knife along to come out half an inch above the 
leaf. This small bit has to be inserted under the bark on both sides, 
bringing the leaf, which is where the bud is, to the exact place where 
the cross cut is ; when it is neatly inserted, take your piece of matting 
and place the middle of it across the slit just under the leaf; pass it 
under, and cross it backward and forward along the branch till the 
bark is completely tied down close, and only the leaf and bud exposed 
