BUDDING. 



BUDDING ROSES. 



eye of the bush. With regard to this, 

 however, Mr. Saul points out that it may 

 suit their hot, dry climate, but that he 

 gives the preference to the English system 

 of extracting the wood from the bud, not 

 only for roses, but for fruit, ornamental, 

 and forest trees. " In rose-budding," he 

 adds, " the bud in the shoot should be 

 commenced with, cutting out from it about 

 the eighth of an inch below the bud or eye, 

 to about half an inch above it. Take out 

 the wood without touching the liber or 

 inner bark ; next make an incision in the 

 branch on which the bud is to be placed, 

 quite close te the main stem, half an inch 

 long, with a cross-cut at the upper extre- 

 mity, thus : "!" Raise the bark with the 

 end of the budding-knife, without bruising 

 it, and insert the bud, tying it well with 

 worsted thread, giving one turn below, and 

 two, or at most three, above the eye of the 

 bud. Worked in this way, they grow out 

 from the axil of the branch, and look neat 

 and workmanlike ; and after a season or 

 two, when headed back and healed over, 

 it presents a fine bushy head, growing 

 apparently out of the main stem, without 

 scars, wounds, or knots." 



Nature of Shoots. The shoots selected 

 for budding or grafting, whether for fruit- 

 or rose-trees, should be firm and well- 

 ripened : watery shoots, or watery buds, 

 are valueless. For grafting, the branches 

 should be of the preceding year, well 

 ripened under an August sun, aonte, as 

 French fruitists say. 



Stale of Stock. The stock should be in 

 a state of vegetation slightly in advance of 

 the graft ; otherwise the flow of the sap is 

 insufficient to supply the wants of the scion. 

 In order to provide for this, the graft may 

 be removed from the parent branch a little 

 before the operation, and buried under a 

 north wall until it is wanted ; there it re- 

 mains stationary, while the stock is ad- 

 vancing to maturity. 



Budding Roses. 



The operation of budding roses may 

 be commenced in June. In selecting 

 buds of roses, take those of moderate 

 size ; clean off the thorn, cut the leaves 

 off, leaving only about half an inch 

 of the stalk or petiole to hold by ; then 

 with a sharp knife take out the bud, begin- 

 ning half an inch above the eye, and bring 

 the knife about the eighth of an inch 

 below ; with the point of the knife separate 

 the wood from the bark, without inter- 

 fering with the wood which remains in the 

 eye, leaving it so that, when inserted on 

 the stock, the wood left may be in imme- 

 diate contact with its wood. 



Having removed the thorns on the 

 intended stock, open the bark at the most 

 convenient spot for the insertion, by draw- 

 ing the point of the knife down the centre 

 of the shoot, and by a cross-cut, where the 

 other begins, raise the corners of the bark 

 sufficiently to introduce the lower end of 

 the bud ; press it down till it is opposite 

 to the corresponding bud on the stock, and 

 bind it up with a piece of fine bass or 

 worsted thread, leaving the eye so that it 

 s just visible. 



After a lapse of three or four weeks 

 it should be examined, and the band 

 loosened a little. In cases where the bud 

 does not separate freely from the bark, the 

 wood may be tied in also ; but the opera- 

 tion is both neater and more efficient when 

 all the wood except that in the eye is 

 removed. % 



Dull and cloudy weather is generally 

 recommended for the operation ; but some 

 operators prefer bright, warm, sunny 

 weather, provided the stocks are in proper 

 condition. Rose-budding may be per- 

 formed any lime from June to September, 

 and even as late as October, August being 

 suitable for the greatest number of rosis, 

 the test being of course the maturity of the 

 shoots. 



