t with the wood, the bud is useless, and must be thrown away.
The shield of bark is then trimmed to a point below.

The stock is now made ready to receive the bud. At the point we have
chosen for inserting the bud--in standards let it be as close as
possible to the main stem--a perpendicular slit from half an inch to an
inch long is made with the budding-knife, care being taken only to cut
through the bark and not to wound the wood below. A short cross-cut is
made at the top of the slit. Then the bark is gently raised on each side
downwards from this cross-cut, with the flat handle of the knife.

Into this slit the bud is slipped by putting the pointed lower end into
the cross slit, and pushing it down as far as it will go. We then cut
off any bark at the top of the bud that overlaps the cross-cut, so that
the shield fits in perfectly, when the side flaps of bark are brought
gently over it.

With a bit of Raffia grass, well moistened in water, we now bind up the
bud; beginning from below with a double turn over one end of the Raffia,
and keeping it quite flat, exactly in the way we put on a surgical
bandage. When we come to the bud itself, the Raffia must be wound
tightly and as close to the eye as possible without actually touching
it. When the whole slit is completely and evenly covered, slip the end
of the Raffia through the last turn and pull it tight. The operation is
now complete.

CUTTINGS.

Roses on their own roots are grown from cuttings, and it is a system
which suits many varieties.

=How to make a cutting.=--Cuttings are taken from well-ripened twigs
which have already flowered, or from a lateral upon the main flowering
shoot, which has ceased growing without bearing a blossom. They should
be from two to six or seven inches in length, with three to nine buds
upon them. And judgment is needed regarding these buds in choosing the
twig, as we must take one on which they are neither immature nor too
fully developed. In the case of a cutting with ten leaves we cut off the
top a quarter of an inch above the fourth leaf, and the same distance
below the tenth. The four lower leaves are then cut off close to the bud
they cover, and the three upper ones are left on. When the cutting is
planted, two-thirds of it should be in the soil.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Rose cutting with a heel, 4 leaves cut, 2 leaves
left.]

Cuttings are taken in two ways.

1. With a heel; that is a small portion of the wood of the