12 THE PROPAGATION OP FRUIT TREES. 



in November, it is better to wait until early in April, after the 

 shoots have had an opportunity to recover from the severe freez- 

 ing. They should never be cut from the tree when they are 

 frozen. When cut, they should be packed in a box with damp 

 moss, or sawdust placed in the bottom of the box and over them 

 after they are put in. There should be enough moss or sawdust 

 to prevent the scions from drying out or shrivelling. They 

 should then be stored ia the cellar, where they wUl be kept cool 

 and damp, and free from frost. If there be plenty of moss or 

 sawdust the scions will be preserved quite fresh without any fur- 

 ther attention ; and if, when taken out for use, they seem to be- 

 mouldy, there need be no cause for apprehension, if, on wiping it 

 off, the bark looks bright and fresh. Experience has taught us that 

 this mould does not injure scions. There is danger, however^ 

 of keeping scions too wet. The material in which they art 

 packed should be damp only, not filled with water. A scion that 

 has been soaked will not grow. They have been known to fail 

 wholly, after standing for a few weeks with the butt-end in shal- 

 low water. The thing to be aimed at, is to keep the grafts as- 

 near as possible in the same condition as when first cut. In 

 Tisiag the scions, reject the portion at the butt, as far as the buda 

 seem small and imperfectly developed, and likewise the tip, as 

 far as the wood seems soft and spongy. 



Budding, or as it is sometimes called, iuoculation, is the other 

 method by which any given variety of fruit is perpetuated and 

 multiplied, and in its effects and principles of operation is only 

 another mode of grafting. In both cases, a bud of the variety 

 we desire to propagate is brought into a living union with another 

 root, and made to form the top and branches and fruit-producing 

 portion of the tree. In grafting, we use a branch with several 

 buds and considerable wood ; but in budding we use only a sin- 

 gle bud, with a very small portion of bark, and less wood. 



There are some advantages in budding, as compared with 

 grafting, when the stocks are small, as is t!ie case in nurserymen's 

 operations ; but when the stocks have aheady become trees, as is 

 usually the case with the farmer and amateur, grafting is the 



