HOW TO BUD AND GRAFT. 43 



wood remaining separates at the end from the delicate 

 bark, then thrust your thumb nail between the two, and 

 now, holding the bud uppermost so as to keep it straight 

 and unbroken^ gently pass your nail along, bending the 

 woody layer downward until it is entirely detached, leav- 

 ing in your hand a nice, clean strip of bark with the bud 

 intact ; if, however, the wood has not parted readily, but 

 has torn the bud or left a little hole in it, be sure that it 

 was not in a fit condition for budding and throw it away. 



This may seem a difficult and delicate operation at the 

 first glance ; but difficult ? no, not after a little practice ; 

 delicate? yes; but one can not expect to treat a tender 

 bud roughly and have it live. If you prefer you can 

 omit to remove the woody layer, provided you cut it as 

 thin as possible, but it does not make either so sure a junc- 

 tion or so sightly in the years to come, for, as the alburnum 

 or wood will never unite with the stock, neither be ab- 

 sorbed, there will always be an ugly knot or ridge mark- 

 ing the point of junction between stock and scion, whereas 

 the strip of bark only, unites completely in every part, 

 leaving in after years a smooth, straight trunk, with no 

 unsightly prominence. 



And now you are ready to insert the bud, which is to be 

 done upside down, for the same reason that you made the 

 cross-cut at the base of the perpendicular instead of the 

 top, namely, because in this position, as you will see, it 

 sheds rain, and allows no water to lodge and soak in be- 

 tween the bandage and the bud it is always better to 

 leave the leaf attached to the bud as this avoids leaving 

 open any channel for air or moisture to penetrate, and, 

 moreover, the sap in the leaf nourishes the bud ; but, with 

 or without the leaves, insert your bud upside down ; push 

 it gently up from below till the upper end of the cut is 

 reached, be sure that the bud-bark lies smoothly, and that 



