JULY 131 



satisfactory than the gardener's feeble attempts to 

 supply moisture. This year Jupiter Pluvius has 

 been good to us, and the sap is rising fairly 

 quickly after a considerable period of dry weather. 

 Budding is not easily learned from books; a half- 

 hour's lesson from a practical gardener will teach 

 it far more easily and correctly. But it is well 

 to remind oneself at times of little details which 

 may possibly be forgotten. 



All through the spring an eye is kept on the 

 stocks, and only those branches are allowed to 

 grow which are the required height from the base 

 of the tree. We generally keep two shoots on 

 each stock, and enter buds on both, in case one 

 should fail ; if both take, the upper one is removed 

 by cutting away the head. It is a great mistake to 

 shorten back the spray at the time of budding, for 

 this checks the flow of sap, and the buds may fail 

 for want of nourishment. 



When the stock has been budded the gardener's 

 care does not yet come to an end. In favourable 

 circumstances the bud unites in five or six weeks' 

 time, and the heads must be looked over and the 

 ties loosened a little if they require it ; that is to 

 say, if the bud is swelling and the ligature is tight. 

 Sometimes the bud remains dormant until the 

 following spring, so that the tie need not be 

 unbound ; but often it begins to grow in the late 

 summer, and requires stopping as soon as it is a 

 few inches high. This causes the sap to con- 

 centrate in the rings, and thus to prepare the way 

 for the pushing of side-shoots next spring, and the 

 consequent formation of a good head, About 



