•liOrAGATION OF THE KOSE. 



123 



inch above the eye or bud, and cutting out about the same 

 distance below it, cutting sufficiently near the bud to take 

 with it a very thin scale of the wood. English gardeners 

 will always peel off this thin scale ; but in our hot cli- 

 mate, it should always be left on, as it assists to keep the 

 bud moist, and does not at all prevent the access of the 

 sap from the stock to the bud. The bud being thus pre- 

 pared, take it, by the portion of leaf-stalk attached, between 

 the thumb and finger in the left hand, and, with the knife 

 in the right, open 

 the incision in the 

 bark sufficiently to 

 allow the bud to be 

 slipped in as far as 

 it will go, when the 

 bark will close over 

 and retain it. Then 

 take a mat-string, or 

 a piece of yarn, and 

 firmly bind it around 

 the bud, leaving only 

 the petiole and bud 

 exposed, as in c, 

 fig. 10. The string 

 should be allowed 

 to remain for about 

 two weeks, or until 

 the bud is united to 

 the stock. If allow- 

 ed to remain longer, 

 it will sometimes cut ^'=- H-b^i^ing in the branches. 

 into the bark of the rapidly growing stock, but is productive 

 of no other injury. It is the practice with many cultivators 

 to cut off the top of the^stock above the bud immediately 

 after inoculation. A limited acquaintance with vegetable 

 physiology would convince the cultivator of the injurious 



