32 



APPLE GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



of our nurserymen make a practice of buying either seedlings or seed 

 from this French stock, which appears to have little value except for 

 cider and seeds. 



BUDDING. 



The budded apple tree is now generally preferred to the root grafted 

 tree. The operation of budding is really more simple than grafting, 

 the union of bud with stock is usually better than in the case of the 

 graft, and the trees are believed to be less liable to attack by crown gall. 

 For these as well as other reasons propagation by budding is prac- 

 ticed by most of our best nurserymen. 



Budding can best be done in California in August and September, 

 in which case the inserted bud unites with the seedling stem and remains 



Fig. 17. "Preparing the stock to receive the bud." (After Lelong) 



dormant throughout the winter season, making no growth until the 

 spring. At this time the top of the tree should be removed, cutting just 

 above the bud. The well established root system of the seedling will 

 feed the new bud abundantly, and a rapid growth should take place, 

 developing a satisfactory size of top for planting in one season. 



Bud wood should be selected from bearing trees which have produced 

 satisfactory crops, and only strong, healthy buds should be used. The 

 practice of using bud sticks from young trees which have never borne, 

 because of the convenience of securing them at the time of pruning, 

 cannot result in the development of the best kind of nursery stock. In 

 practically every orchard there are certain trees that have produced 

 big crops of fruit year after year with scarcely a failure, while the 

 average trees have not done nearly so well. Such heavy producing 



