BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 

 SUGGESTIONS FROM MR. V. DEVINNY, OF DENVER. 



Budding and grafting, in my experience, have been satisfactory, with 

 the exception of stone fruits, which are nearly a failure. I have, how- 

 ever, been successful in root-grafting the peach on the plum. Owing to 

 the dry air of our climate, some precautions are necessary to success in 

 budding. One is, that the scion from which buds are taken should be 

 large, not less than a quarter of an inch in diameter ; to the end, that the 

 bud, when removed, will be broad and long, a condition necessary to resist 

 the withering effects of our climate. The bandaging should also com- 

 pletely cover the wound ; likewise in grafting, the wound should be care- 

 fully covered. Another precaution to which I direct special attention is 

 this, that in either budding or grafting old trees, the leading or main 

 limbs should not be budded or grafted, but one or more of their smaller, 

 erect branches should be selected for the purpose, and the main limb 

 should be deadened above the grafted or budded limbs, by the removal of 

 three or four inches in length of bark around the limb. 



This strong, deadened limb will afford a good support, to which the 

 new scions can be tied, thus preventing the disastrous effects of our hard 

 winds. As the union of the graft and the stock is neither perfect nor 

 strong till the stock has doubled its diameter, it is therefore easily torn 

 away by our summer winds. For the want of this hint, I lost many large, 

 budded limbs last summer. 



Regarding the irrigation of orchards. I recommend the first summer 

 after planting irrigation every two weeks, the second and third years the 

 same, after which irrigation once per month will do. But no irrigation 

 should be done after September 1st, except the first year after planting. 



