100 BUDDING. 



the top of this making a cross cut, so that the incisions form 

 a T. Now cut very carefully from your stick of buds a 

 smooth, thin bit of wood and bark containing a bud. In- 

 sert this bud to the bottom of the incision, under the bark. 

 If on being pushed gently, as directed, the bud projects 

 above the horizontal slit, trim it carefully to make it fit. 

 Bandage it carefully with soft matting, leaving only the bud 

 and the footstalk of the leaf exposed to the light. 



If the bud takes, in about two weeks there will be a 

 plumpness that will indicate the union of the bud with the 

 stock ; if it has, however, failed, provided the bark peels 

 readily, a fresh trial may be made. In about a fortnight, 

 if the operation have been perfected, the bandage may be 

 loosened, and if the stock has swelled much, it may be 

 removed entirely, though, where the budding is performed 

 late in the season, the bandage is sometimes left on for the 

 winter. 



In the following spring, the buds having swollen, the stock 

 is headed down with a sloping back within two or three 

 inches of the bud, and the shoots of the stock, or " rob- 

 bers," as they are styled, must be removed from time to 

 time. (Downing's Fruits and Fruit-trees of America.) 



The same excellent authority from whom we take the 

 above also remarks, that, to secure the upright growth of 

 the bud, and to prevent its being broken by the winds, it is 

 tied when a few inches long to that portion of the stock left 

 for the purpose, removing this support in midsummer when 

 the shoot appears strong, and cutting away the superfluous 

 portion of the stock, which will be rapidly covered with 

 young bark after being thus smoothly trimmed. 



Mr. Knights's mode of tying with two distinct bandages is 

 also recommended by Mr. Downing, one covering the part 

 below the bud, and the other the portion above it. In this 

 case, Mr. Downing has said, " the lower bandage is removed 



