BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 23 



BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 



Of every suit 

 Graffe dainty fruit. 

 Graffe good fruit all 

 Or graffe not at all. 



TUSSER (1620). 



Budding is much more practised in these days than formerly. 

 It presents greater economy in material, in labour, and above all 

 in time. Young Seedlings may be budded about the 3rd or 4th 

 year, and if in the following spring the buds should have failed, 

 they can be grafted, and the chance of blanks on the bed be 

 greatly diminished. Budding and Grafting should both be practised 

 in the nursery, where the growth of the Scions may be well 

 protected and regularly superintended. The young trees should 

 not be allowed to take their places in the Orchard until they 

 are strong in the stem, with a good out-line of head, and this 

 cannot be looked for before the loth or 12th year of the age of the 

 stock. 



A custom has arisen in the Orchards of late years, which is 

 often practised with good effect. It is to regraft trees which show a 

 diminution of fruitfulness, or are altogether unproductive, although 

 they may have attained a considerable age. The Scions should be 

 of some strong variety which succeeds well in the locality, and they 

 should be grafted as near to the end of the branches as possible. 

 They will want careful protection from the wind, but if this is given 

 they come quickly into bearing. 



Old Varieties of Orchard Vintage Fruits. — The names 

 of those varieties of Cider and Perry Fruits which were held in the 

 highest esteem during the last two centuries have been handed down 

 to us in prose and verse. The following great Orchard authorities, 

 Dr. Beale, writing in 1657; Worlidge, 1675; Evelyn, 1706; 

 Phillips, 1706; Hugh Stafford, of Pynes, 1753 ; Marshall, 

 1789; Knight, 1808, and other writers, give the following apples 

 their highest praise. Amongst the earliest in general repute in 



