EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 239 



stock ready for a bud, one of the bud-sticks (Fig. 5, 6) should be drawn 

 out from its wrapping and a bud (Fig. 5, 6) removed. In cutting the bud, 

 the scion is held in the left hand, resting on the forefinger, with the small 

 end toward the body. The knife is inserted about half an inch below the 

 bud and a cut is then made deep enough to take off a thin shaving of the 

 wood and extending one half inch above the bud. The cut may be brought 

 out through the bark at this point, entirely severing the bud, but this is 

 likely to cause the bud to fall to the ground. The usual custom is to 

 remove the knife and complete the severing of the bark, by a cut at right 

 angles to the one first made. The shaving of wood taken off with the bark 

 is removed by some budders, but it is not necessary and is sometimes 

 harmful, unless carefully done, as the base of the bud may be torn out 

 with the wood. Then take the stub of the leaf stalk, left for the purpose 

 attached to the bud, between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand 

 and insert it in the slit in the bark of the stock, crowding it down 

 until the top of the bark attached to the bud is below the horizontal cut 

 on the stock. If still loose, it is well to push it down until the bark of the 

 stock presses firmly against the piece of bark attached, ito the bud. The 

 bud is now ready for tying, which consists in wrapping a strip 

 of raffia or other material that is to be used for the purpose, from twelve 

 to fifteen inches in length, according to the size of the stocks, and from 

 one fourth to one half inch in width, from two to four times around the 

 stock beneath the bud, and about twice above it (Fig. 5, c), giving it tension 

 enough to press the bark firmly down upon the bud. This pressure of the 

 bark is beneficial in two ways, as by shutting out the air it prevents the 

 bud from drying out, and by bringing the bud and stock in close con- 

 tact the union is more rapid. The operation of budding is now completed 

 but the tree is by no means ready for the orchard. In about ten days or 

 two weeks the trees should be looked over, and if any of the buds have 

 failed to take, new ones can be inserted. In all cases where the buds have 

 taken, the bands should be cut, by drawing a knife across them on the 

 opposite side of the stock from the bud. If one of the folds is cut it will 

 be sufficient, as the wrapping will open of itself. Sometimes the growth of 

 the stock before the bud has taken is so rapid that the pressure of the 

 band will so check the flow of the sap that, if left to itself, the stock would 

 be girdled. Upon all such stocks the bands should be loosened and retied. 

 In case the budding is done toward the close of the season of growth, it is 

 not always necessary that the bands be cut, as there is no danger of con- 

 striction and they will decay before spring, but under other conditions it 

 is safer to be sure that the bands are cut. Nothing further is necessary the 

 first year, unless the trees are on rather moist soil, where there is a good 

 deal of freezing and thawing, in which case it is well to throw up a 

 light furrow, on each side of the rows, covering the buds. In the spring 

 this should be thrown away from the rows and the narrow strip between 

 the trees drawn away with hoes. The stocks should then be cut back, the 

 cut being made somewhat slanting, beginning on the side opposite the 

 bud, about half an inch above the bud itself, and giving the top of the stub 

 a slope of about 45 degrees, Sometimes the cut is made several inches 

 above the bud and, later on, after the bud has sent up a stem twelve or 

 fifteen inches high, the stub is cut back near enough the bud to admit ils 

 being readily grown over. Cultivation should begin as soon as the soil is 

 in a suitable condition and should be kept up through the summer until 

 the trees are large enough to shade the ground. In case the season is a 



