THE PEACH AND THK NECTARINE ] 319 



orchard or of a kitchen garden. For other purposes it 

 will be more convenient to sow the almond in the nursery, 

 dibbling the stones about 50 c. m. apart, in soil which has 

 been well tilled and manured. In the nursery the seed- 

 lings will be cultivated with greater care and in about 

 two years will be strong enough to be budded or grafted. 

 Watering in summer will cause the seedlings to make 

 quicker growth, so that it is often possible to commence 

 budding when the plants are hardly more than a year old, 

 and the young tree having developed a strong root 

 system will establish itself more easily when it is trans- 

 ferred to its final destination. 



Budding is best done early in March when the 

 almond stock is already in full movement of sap, and the 

 peach or nectarine is just beginning to swell its buds, the 

 method generally used being ordinary shield budding. 

 The bud of course, should be still dormant, and may be 

 selected from last year's wood or even from older wood, 

 but in any case should have no flower buds although it is 

 often difficult to find suitable leaf buds, without the usual 

 complement of a flower bud on one or both tides. Should 

 there be this difficulty the flower buds may be rubbed off 

 gently before taking up the shield with its leaf bud. From 

 May to September the bud is taken from the new wood, 

 the leaf being removed by a clean cut just below its blade. 

 The stock is often budded close to the ground, in order 

 to get bushy trees, but for open situations it is preferable 

 to have trees budded as standards or half-standards, from 

 50 c. m. to one metre above the ground so that a clean 

 stem of the almond may be had above ground which will 

 impart its vigour to the tree. 



Cleft-grafting close to the ground is done in Decem- 

 ber or January. Grafting above ground should be done 

 with the aid of grafting wax, with which all wounded or 

 exposed tissues should be covered, and the operation is 

 better postponed until the close of January or the first 

 days of February, in order not to expose the scions too 



