VIIL PROPAGATION 145 
The point of the budding knife carefully inserted 
at one end is usually the means by which the wood 
is got out, though I knew an old gardener who said 
he ‘“‘kept a thoomb-nail o’purpose,’ a gruesome 
object which he exhibited with pride. The beginner 
had better try several ways till he finds what suits 
him best, remembering that the one object is to get 
the wood out clean, and yet leave the inside of the 
bud. Which end of the wood should be raised first 
will naturally depend upon whether it is to be lifted, 
pulled, or pushed out. 
If the wood comes out all right, leaving the base 
of the bud level with the inside of the bark, there 
will probably be no trouble with any buds on that 
shoot. And vice versa, for it is the condition of the 
shoot which is at fault. If you find that you have 
pulled the interior of a bud out, take extra pains 
with the other buds on that shoot if a better one is 
not to be found; in obstinate cases, the knife itself 
may be passed down under the bark, and help the 
desired object. But care must be taken that the 
inner surface of the bark of the bud be not bruised 
or cut and that no grit or foreign substance what- 
ever gets in. 
If the wood will not come out clean but adheres 
in places, the bud is over-ripe and should not be 
used. If it be very small or not ripe enough, some 
advise that it be inserted without removing the 
wood. In such a case the bud will sometimes grow, 
but this is grafting, not budding, and the union will 
not be so good or lasting. 
The bud thus prepared must without any delay be 
slipped under the cross cut and down the longitudinal 
one, so that it just touches and fits to the cross cut. 
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