BUDDING, GRAFTING, ETC. 149 



and Cherries on Mahaleb, about the first of September, 

 and from that to the middle of the month; as the quince 

 and Mahaleb grow late, especially the latter. Peach 

 stocks should always be budded the same season the 

 seeds are planted, and, as they grow rapidly, until very 

 late, are not usually budded until between the first and 

 middle of September. The budding period varies in dif- 

 ferent seasons. In a dry, warm season, the young wood 

 matures earlier, and stocks cease to grow sooner, and are, 

 therefore, budded earlier than in a cool, moist season, that 

 prolongs the growth of the stocks and retards the ma- 

 turity of the buds. Stocks growing feebly, require to be 

 budded earlier than those growing freely. It is necessary 

 to keep an eye to all these points. 



The destruction of insects must be strictly attended to. 

 An army of slugs may devour the foliage of the pear 

 and cherry, and even the plum, in a day or two, and pre- 

 vent their being worked that season. The aphis, too, fre- 

 quently appears in such multitudes as to check growth. 

 Dry lime or ashes thrown on the slugs, will kill them ; 

 and strong soap-suds, or tobacco water so strong as to 

 assume the color of strong beer, will kill the aphis. 



2d. Preparation of the Stocks. This consists in re- 

 moving such lateral shoots from the stock as may be 

 likely to obstruct the insertion of the bud. Our practice 

 is to do this at the moment of budding, one person doing 

 the work in advance of the budders. If done a few days 

 previous, and several 'shoots are removed, it checks the 

 growth of the stocks, and they do not work so well. It 

 might answer very well to do it two or three weeks pre- 

 vious, so that they might recover from the check before 

 being budded. 



3d. Insertion of the Bud. Having treated so fully of 

 the manner of preparing and inserting the buds in the 

 article on budding, nothing farther need be said on these 

 points here. 



