VIII PROPAGATION 147 
more satisfactory operation when it is done, but it 
requires an expert hand to get the bud in under 
these circumstances, and the cross-cut system 
answers very well. 
Budding on cutting or seedling stocks to make 
“dwarf” plants is practised in just the same way, 
except that in this case the bud is not put into the 
branches, but into the old wood of the main stem, 
beneath, if possible, the surface of the ground. As 
before, no growths should be cut away or stopped, 
but the shoots may be bent back to allow access to 
the stem. A trowel or the blunt stump of an old 
knife may be used for removing the earth round the 
stock to the depth of an inch or more. The stem 
should then be rubbed with the hand or a piece of 
old flannel or cloth to make it clean and free from 
grit, no harm being done by the removal of the 
epidermis or outer skin of bark. 
The operation now proceeds as in standards, only 
one bud being put into each stock, and great care 
being taken that no particles of earth or extraneous 
matter get in between the bud and the stock. With 
extra strong manettis, or in any case where a small 
bud has to be put into a strong rough thick-barked 
stock, thin slices may be taken from the lips of the 
bark to prevent its completely meeting over the 
bud, and ‘‘ drowning” it in growth. Formerly the 
material used for the tying in of buds was bast or 
Russian matting, and then soft thick white cotton, 
called ‘‘ bonnet cotton,” was much used by amateurs. 
But the introduction of Raffia supplied a material 
of just the right consistence, softness and pliability, 
which has also the happy knack for the purpose, 
L 2 
