152 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



may be performed then, or late in summer, when the buds have 



nearly or quite matured. 



The chief object of grafting is to perpetuate 

 a kind of plant which will not reproduce itself 

 from seed, or of which seed is very difficult to 

 obtain. Cions or buds are therefore taken from 

 this plant and set into whatever kind of plant 

 is obtainable on which they will grow. Thus, 

 if one wants to propagate the Baldwin apple, he 

 does not for that purpose sow seeds thereof, but 

 takes cions or buds from a Baldwin tree and 

 grafts them into some other apple tree. The 

 stocks are usually obtained from seeds. In the 

 case of the apple, young plants are raised from 

 seeds which are secured mostly from cider fac- 

 tories, without reference to the variety from 

 which they came. When the seedlings have 

 grown to a certain age, they are budded or 

 grafted, the grafted part making the entire top 

 of the tree; and the top bears fruit like that of 

 the tree from which the cions were taken. 



There are many ways in which the union be- 

 tween cion and stock is made. Budding may 

 be first discussed. It consists in inserting a 

 bud underneath the bark of the stock, and the 

 commonest practice is that which is shown in 

 the illustrations. Budding is mostly performed 

 in July, August, and early September, when the 

 bark is still loose or in condition to peel. Twigs 

 are cut from the tree which it is desired to prop- 



174. Budding, ^gate, and the buds are cut off with a sharp 

 The "bud"; knife, a shield-shaped bit of bark (with possibly 

 toLXettI a little wood) being left with them (Fig.^ 174). 

 the bud tied. The bud is then shoved into a slit made in the 



