Vol. III. No. 62. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



283 



«?'*:■ 



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BUDDING THE MANGO. 



The following notes have been extracted from 

 Bidlefin No. 40 of the Bureau of Plant Industr}-, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, ' The propagation of 

 tropical fruit trees and other plants' : — 



APPLYING THE BUDS. 



Two-or three-year-old seedlings and moderate-sized trees 

 may be used as stocks on which to bud approved varieties of 

 the mango. The stems selected for the reception of the buds 

 should be at least an inch in thickness. When of this 

 diameter, both wood and bark are thoroughly ripe, and the 

 union of the scion with the stock will be easily accomplished 

 if the oi'eration of inserting the buds is performed carefully. 

 The method of budding which has been found to work most 

 satisfact'nily (tig. 10) consists in removing a rectangular 



piece of bark from 

 the .stock and insert- 

 ing a piece similar 

 in shape and a trifle 

 larger in size, hav- 

 ing a bud in the 

 centre, from a 

 branch of a desirable 

 variety. 



The bud must 

 be selected from 

 wood old enough to 

 have lost its foliage. 

 This means that the 

 bud wood will some- 

 times be over two 

 years old. To a 

 certain extent 

 success depends 

 upon the precision 

 with which the 

 section of bark . is 

 removed from the 

 stock and also from the variety to be propagated, as the 

 more neatly the bud section is fitted into the space prepared 

 for it, the greater the probability of a successful union. 



After the section of bark from the bud stick is nicely 

 fitted in place, and before tying, a small c^tiantity of grafting 

 wax should be smeared over the parts where they come 

 together and tied firndy in place with thick strands of raffia. 

 (Fig. 10, c.) This effectually prevents the admission of air 

 to the spaces which, no matter how carefully the operation 

 be performed, exist between stock and scion ; it also serves 

 to prevent moisture from gaining access to the cut surfaces. 

 The cut surfaces and all V)ut the bud should then be covered 

 with strips of cloth dipjied in melted paraffin, wrapiiing being 

 begun at the lower part, so that when finished, water will 

 not gain entrance to the wrapped section of bark. If that 

 part of the stock where the bud is tied be exposed to the 

 sun, it is always advisable to furnish shade, which is best 

 supplied by strips of paper tied above the bud and extending 

 down over it. Two weeks may be allowed to pass before an 

 examination is made. The cloth wrappings may then be 

 removed, and the rattia should be loosened if there is danger 

 of its cutting into the bark. A\lien a sirfficient time has 

 elap.sed to make certain that union has taken place, part of 





I 





■■-.fi.,M 



V: -■'■:"■- Mgni' 



Fig. 



10. liECTANGUL.Mt PATCH METHOD 

 OF BUDDING THE MaNGO. 



the top of the stock should be removed in order to encourage 

 the bud to start. 



WHEN TO BUD. 



Budding may be performed at any time during the 

 growing season, but with each plant there are certain periods 

 when the operation will be fcjund to be more successful than 

 at other times. These periods are indicated by the growths 

 or ' flnshes ' being about half developed. At the.se times the 

 sap appears to be more active than at others, as the bark 

 peels from the wood more readily than when the growths 

 are of firmer texture. 



A SECOND METHOD OF ATTACHING THE BUD. 



Another method of attaching the bud, varying slightly 

 in the details from 

 that given above, 

 has been practised 

 during the past 

 season at iliami, 

 Florida, with an 

 encouraging degree 

 of success. (Fig. 11.) 

 The bud section 

 differs from the 

 rectangular - shaped 

 piece of bark in 

 that one end of 

 it is pointed instead 

 of being cut straight 

 across, which makes 

 it possible to push 

 the bark of the 

 scion down tight 

 against the bark of 

 the stock ; the top 

 part is then cut 

 off square with the 



transverse cut in the bark of the stock, and is pressed firmly 

 into position previous to tying and waxing in the usual way. 



Fig. 11. ilETHOD OF BUDDING 



Mango used in Flopjda. 



THE 



EEL-WORMS IN ST. VINCENT. 



Specimens n{ yam plants were received at the Head 

 Office of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, Barbados, 

 recently from one of the refugee allotments at St. Vincent. 

 The allottee complained that his cacao, yam, cassava, and 

 tannia plants would not grow. On examination it was seen 

 that the underground parts of the yams showed a number of 

 large swellings or galls. These galls were examined 

 microscopically and were found to contain a number of 

 minute, thread-like eel-worms, which were undoubtedly the 

 cause of the trouble. 



These eel-worms are a common [lest in cultivated land 

 throughout the world, and are very difficult to deal with. 

 They attack very many kinds of cultivated plants and weeds, 

 lioth in the field and garden. Attacked plants are usually 

 stunted in their development ; then, sooner or later, the foliage 

 withers and the plant dies. 



A thorough dressing of lime is one treatment recom- 

 mended ; 1 to 2 tons per acre should be applied in 

 two or three lots during the year. Carbon bisulphide kills 

 the worms when applied to the soil, but is too expensive 

 except in gardens. Another way is to find out what plants 

 are not attacked by the worms and then to plant only these 

 for a number of years, until the pests are starved out ; the 

 difficulty of this method lies in the neces.sity for keeping the 

 land free from weeds during the period of starvation. 



