10 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



other ; enter the knife half an inch above the bud, and draw 

 it down parallel with the shoot, and bring it out three- 

 quarters of an inch below the bud. Care must be taken to 

 make a clean cut, and not to take off any wood with the bark. 

 But, if a little should be taken off, see that it adheres firmly 

 to the bark, as ragged bark and little slivers of wood hanging 

 to the bud will never do. 



Use the end of the handle of the budding-knife to raise 

 the bark gently on the edges of the perpendicular cut ; then 

 the bud may be inserted under the bark, and care must be 

 taken that the piece of bark attached to it be cut square at 

 the top, so as to fit snugly to the bark on the horizontal cut. 

 Tie with palm-leaf or such as is used in cane-seat chairs. 

 Success in this operation will depend entirety on clean 

 cutting, good fitting, and good tying. Budding should be 

 done on the north or east side of the stock, because thus the 

 stock will partly shade the bud. Too much exposure to the 

 sun's heat during August and September is apt to interrupt 

 the process of healing by curling the tender bark on the 

 wound, and perhaps cause budding over again. In about 

 four weeks, if the bud has caught, the strings may be 

 removed, to save the bark from denting. 



The following spring after budding the seedling, that is, if 

 the bud is all right, rub off all the shoots appearing on the 

 stock, so as not to impede the growth of the bud. During 

 the latter part of July or the first of August all above the 

 bud of the stock may be removed by making a sloping cut 

 clean and smooth, and close to the bud, but not so close as to 

 cause any injury to it. Now we will go to work again on the 

 seedling the next spring, that is, the second spring after bud- 

 ding, at which stage the tree is one year old from the bud. 

 All further treatment comes under the head of pruning, as 

 here comes the time to commence to give it shape and form. 



The first question comes, then, What distance from the 

 ground should it branch out, and grow stocky ? There is no 

 definite rule, that we are aware of, on this point, as some 

 people prefer tall trunks, while others prefer low ones. How- 

 ever, we are of opinion that no standard pear-tree should 

 have a branchless trunk above three feet from the ground. 

 This, in a manner, gives the tree the advantage of shading 

 itself from a hot, glaring sun, and is a safeguard, in a meas- 



