226 THE FLORIST. 
gutta percha dissolved in chloroform. I have been using these two 
on Briar stocks (204), now budded, and they heal and grow fast. 
Cut always with a sharp knife. If a surgeon cuts off an arm with a 
blunt knife, he will hurt his patient ; and, if he neither cauterises the 
cicatrix, nor bandages, nor ties the bleeding vessels, death will ensue. 
The Briar may not do so, but it will suffer detriment, which will 
manifest itself hereafter. ‘The rind has an infinite number of vessels, 
invisible to the naked eye, from which the sap will exude. Probably 
Friar’s balsam might not be bad for the purpose. ‘There is a great 
analogy running through the field of nature. Trees, vegetables, 
animals, and men, are but different links in creation; and, as far as 
the analogy lasts, the treatment for one will suit the other. Let me, 
then, repeat once more, that the healing of the vessels at the top of the 
Briar is most important, especially when a dwarf-habited Rose is budded 
thereon, and that the cause of failure in Briar Roses is as often at the 
head as in the roots. 
3. The Cut at the Head of the Briar.—This should be as sloping 
as possible, that wet may not rest on the Briar-head. It should be 
cut close up to the budded branch, that frozen dews, when they thaw, 
may find no lodgment at the base of the budded Rose. I lost several 
Roses last winter from this cause, and from their wood not being ripe, 
and from their rind not being hardened. 
4. The number of Briar branches to be budded.—It is safest to bud 
three, but one branch with the best shoots should only be left. Where 
two parallels are budded, both may be left. Where distance inter- 
venes between them, there is always a fighting for the mastery, and 
neither will be good. 
5. The branch end of a budded Briar.—This should be cut close to 
the budded Rose, when it starts, and it should be healed as above. 
6. Staking and Binding.—When you plant, stake and tie the Rose 
to the stake loosely for some days, till the ground has pitched, or you 
will hang up the Rose. After the ground has pitched, tie the plant to 
the stake firmly, passing the bast, like a figure of 8, between the plant 
and the stake. It will keep the stake from galling the tree, and from 
preventing circulation in the rind. 
7. The height of the Stock.—Being so exposed to S.W., W., and 
N.W. winds, I prefer standards about 2 feet or 24 feet out of the 
ground. Moreover, they are not so expensive to stake, can be viewed 
more easily, and be shaded with less trouble, for exhibition. If the 
quality of the Briar is good, the height is immaterial ; if bad, or only 
moderate, of course the less you have of it the better. If the stock is 
good, I find delicate Roses, such as Masson and Magnan, do better on 
4 feet standards, than on dwarf. I have two each on first class 
standards, and they are doing admirably. Delicate Roses should not 
be nearer the ground than 2 feet. If they are in valleys, where damp 
prevails, they will be healthier on 4 feet standards. On low stocks I 
have lost many of the above Roses. Look not so much to the height 
of standards, as to the quality. The gualitas rei is of more consequence 
than the gualitas vocis, to use a term in logic. 
8. General and Cultural Directions—You cannot do better than 
