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may be done in the spring, provided the bark of stock and scion will rise 

 freely. Early buds, when they have a good start, generally make a 

 strong growth during the following summer and autumn. Sometimes 

 the conditions for budding are not favourable till after mid-summer. 

 Buds put in at this season of the year generally take well, but they do 

 not usually make such strong growth the first season as the earlier 

 worked plants. Duds may also be put in in the autumn, but these often 

 remain dormant till spring, and seldom make much headway till after the 

 winter. In selecting buds a preference should be given to those that are 

 plump and well matured, and care must be taken that none are defective. 

 After the buds have made a fair start, the stocks should be cut back a 

 few inches above the unions. As growth proceeds the young shoots 

 should be carefully tied to stakes or other supports, as they are easily 

 broken off by high winds or heavy rains. In working old trees the 

 better plan is to lightly shorten back the heads and work a number of 

 buds upon them. This is better than heading back closely, working a 

 few branches, and forcing a strong growth of young wood. Buds, if 

 necessary, may be inserted in wood several years old, but, when practi- 

 cable, the preference should be given to younger branches. When old 

 trees have been worked, the better plan, after the buds have made a good 

 start, is to reduce the tops gradually in preference to cutting them back 

 all at once. By adopting this plan the young growth will have the 

 advantage of shade, which is a matter of some importance, in the summer. 

 In removing the old branches the cuts should be clean, and it is advisable 

 to paint the wounds over with some composition that will protect the 

 wood from the effects of sun, wind, and rain. 



( rafting. This method of propagation is the one most generally 

 adopted in Australia, and the greater portion of the trees sold by 

 nurserymen are raised by this means. Grafting may be done successfully 

 at various periods of the year, but the most favourable time is in the 

 spring when growth is becoming active. The operation may also be 

 successfully performed late in the summer or early in the autumn in 

 regions where there is a second growth after the breaking up of the dry 

 season. In grafting great care should be taken to obtain the scions from 

 vigorous, healthy, and thrifty trees, and not from those that are diseased, 

 or weakly. As regards the working and heading back of old trees, the 

 same directions will apply as given in the section referring to budding. 



Stock* for I > adding or Grafting. Growers of Citrus fruits differ 

 considerably in opinion as to what are the best stocks for budding and 

 grafting, some authorities being in favour of one kind, while men of 

 equally good repute give the preference to another sort, and some will 

 condemn both and claim that a particular species is the only one to be 

 relied upon. In this part of the world the Rough, or Common, Lemon 

 has been hitherto chiefly used as a stock for the varieties of Sweet 

 Oranges, and also the Lisbon Lemon. Trees raised in this way have, 

 generally speaking, given fairly satisfactory results in most localities. It 

 is claimed for these trees that the roots are more hardy than those of the 

 Orange, that they adapt themselves with greater facility to widely 

 different soils, and that being more fibrous the plants are shifted with 



