1919.^ BUDDING THE AVOCADO. 127 



ADVANTAGES OF BUDDING. 



The advantages of budding plants over seedlings are: 



(1.) To ensure a select variety being kept true to type. An increasa 

 was recently seen when a fruit from a seedling avocado tree weighed 

 2 lb. 2 oz., and the parent tree bore large fruits with seeds about the size 

 of walnuts. On opening the fruit from the seedling tree it was not found 

 to have the good characteristic of its parent, as of the 2 lb. 2 oz. of 

 the fruit 10^ oz. was seed. See Fig. 1. (p. 116) of a fruit of the 

 seedling. 



On page 120 more has been said on this point and attention 

 drawn to select varieties of which the^' are many in Trinidad for 

 pi'opagation. 



(2.) To ensure early fruiting. Sesdling and budded plants of the 

 same kind growing side by side in the St. Clair Experiment Station have 

 shown that whereas some of the budded plants conmienced to fruit at 

 three years of age, the seedlings although larger trees have not j'et 

 borne in their fifth year. Seedling trees can not be relied upon to fruit 

 at as early an age as can budded plants. 



(3.) To jjrolony th" fruiting season. As is well known there are 

 some varieties which fruit in Trinidad when the main crop is out of 

 season. I was shown good fruits at Princes Townjin January gathered 

 from a single tree. A tree of this kind should be watched to 

 see if it fruits each year out of season. If such is found to be 

 the case it could be propagated by budding and^fthis characteristic 

 thus kept constant. 



(4.) To obtain a hardier root stocli. An advantage usually derived 

 by budded plants viz : to bud on to a hardier root sto^k or one resistant 

 to disease does not as yet appear to be important in the case of 

 the Avocado as little diffjrence is to b3 noticed in the constitu- 

 tion of different varieties. The only selection of stocks that can at 

 present be advised is to choose seedlings for the purpose with strong 

 ■vigorous shoots. B itter primxry successes are also obtained wiien 

 budding on such stocks. 



METHOD OF BUDDING. 



The method used for budding is the same as that generally 

 adopted for roses and citrus, viz. : the T method. The patch method 

 which is successful with Cacao is also sometimes used in the cas3 

 of thick stocks. 



Selection of Buds. — Branches from which buds should be taken 

 must be chosen from mature wood about twelve months old ; this is 

 usually of a light brown colour. It is preferable to select buds from 

 which the leaves have fallen, or to cut off the leaves leaving a few inches 

 of the petiole attached, a few weeks before the buds are required. The 

 buds should then be taken off with about i^ to f of an inch of bark and 

 •inserted in the usual wav. 



