CHAPTER IX^ 

 BUDDING AND GRAFTING 





If the nursery ground has been well worked and the seed properly 

 handled, the growth of the seedling will be strong and rapid. If an 

 early start was had and other conditions favorable, some kinds will 

 be ready for budding in June, and the production of what are called 

 "June buds," as will be described presently. In ordinary practice, 

 however, budding will come later, and the budding season extends 

 from July to October. The weight of the budding of deciduous trees 

 is generally done in August and September. 



BUDDING 



The process of budding, as employed on all the common fruit trees, 

 is very simple. It consists in lifting the bark and inserting a bud from 

 another tree in such a way that the inner bark of the bud shall come 

 in contact with the layer of growing wood in the stock, and then it 

 will be quickly knit to it by the new cell-growth if the bark is closed 

 around the inserted bud closely enough to prevent the air from drying 

 the two surfaces at the point of contact. In the engraving 1 is the 

 cutting or "bud stick" from the tree of the kind into which it is de- 

 sired to transform the seedling. This cutting is usually made from the 

 growth of the present season, which has well-formed buds at the axils 

 of the leaves, although in some cases older dormant buds may be used, 

 as will appear in the discussion of the different fruits. If buds are 

 desired to mature early, pinch off the ends of the growing shoots from 

 which they are to be taken. Suckers and so-called "water-sprouts" 

 should not be used, but rather well-formed wood from the branches 

 of the tree. It is requisite that the buds be taken from a vigorous 

 healthy tree of the variety desired. But sticks can be carried or sent 

 considerable distances if packed in damp moss or other material to 

 prevent drying, but care must be taken not to enclose too much water 

 or decay will be promoted. Fresh shoots in tight tin boxes without 

 wet packing are safer and carry very long distances. Sealing the ends 

 with grafting wax is also a good precaution against drying out. 



Budding knives can be bought at all seed stores and cutlery estab- 

 lishments. They have a thin, round-ended blade at one end of the 

 handle, and at the other end the bone is thinned down, or a bone blade 

 inserted. The former is for cutting and the latter for lifting the bark 

 of the stock into which the bud is to be placed. Armed with a bud 

 stick and such a knife, the "budder" starts in upon a row of seedlings. 

 Bending the seedling over a little and holding it between his left arm 

 and his left leg, he reaches down for a smooth place on the bark as near 

 the ground as convenient to work, and makes a horizontal cut, and 

 from that a perpendicular cut downwards toward the roots, as shown 



