212 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



trees can be grown on an acre of land. Though we may not always count 

 on such large results, we may safely expect the orchard to do its full duty 

 one year with another, especially if we first do our duty by it. 



PROPAGATION. 



We would not recommend the average farmer to propagate his own trees 

 for planting, but it is well enough for him to understand something of the 

 jirocesses and methods of propagation commonly practiced. The natural 

 method of propagation is by planting the seed of the fruit, but as a very 

 large per cent, of seedlings are inferior in quality to the parent variety, the 

 results are too uncertain to recommend for planters generally. Only the 

 painstaking experimenter, who wishes to originate new varieties, can afford 

 to practice this natural method of propagation. 



Once having obtained a valuable variety and wishing to multiply and 

 perpetuate it, one of several methods nov/ in use must be resorted to for 

 propagation. The methods more commonly practiced in growing young- 

 apple trees for planting in orchards ai'e budding and grafting. 



BUDDING. 



With the apple this operation must be performed during the growing 

 season, and consists in removing a bud from a twig of the variety which we 

 wish to propagate and inserting it beneath the bark of the stock or young 

 seedling tree we wish to change; and this is then held in place by tying it 

 fast until the bud and the stock have united. Then by forcing the sap and 

 consequent growth into this transplanted bud by preventing all other 

 growth, we get a new tree of the desired variety. This we call budding. 

 It is a method of artificially multiplying a desirable variety. The extent of 

 this multiplication is limited only by the number of buds available. A 

 budding knife and the successive stages of budding are shown in Fig. 1. 



The main requisite for success in budding is a healthy, growing condition 

 of the stock on which the v/ork is to be done, and a certain state of maturity 

 of the buds. The bark of the stock must separate freely, so that the bud 

 may be forced under it without injury to the cambium layer of either bud 

 or stock. The bud sticks or scions selected for summer- budding should be 

 of the current year's growth and should have well-developed buds. When 

 taken from the tree the leaves must be cut off immediately, leaving only a 

 short stub of the leaf stem for convenience in handling during the operation. 

 (Fig. 1, h). They should be kept in a fresh condition by use of damp moss 

 or wet cloth until using, and not more than one or two scions should be 

 withdrawn from the package at a time. 



June budding — If it is desired to start the bud into growth the same 

 season it is inserted, the budding should be done as early in the season as 

 well-developed buds can be obtained. As soon as it is found that the bud 

 has united with the stock or branch, the material used to fasten the bud in 

 place must be removed and the stock or branch cut back to within a short 

 distance from the bud, to force the growth of the insei-ted bud. 



