12 



UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



Preparation of Scion-Buds. 



The whole of the petiole and part of the limb of the Jeaf should be 

 left when the leaf is pinched; if the petiole is cut shorter the bud 

 dries out. The same bud may be made with sap-wood or with half 

 sap-wood, the latter is by far the best. 



Scion with Sap-wood. (a, &, c, Fig. 9; , b, c, Fig. 4). To cut 

 out the shields, the shoot is held with the left hand, the first finger 

 being under the bud; the cut is begun with the base the grafting 

 knife half an inch below the bud; and while cutting, the knife blade 

 is drawn in such a way that the end of the grafting knife will corre- 

 spond with the end of the section, half an inch below the bud, when 

 finished. This shield will be about li inches long, and as it will have 

 a chipped edge, it is advisable to smooth it down, which will reduce it 

 to about one inch. The scion-bud is then rather thick in the center 

 and the ends are pointed bevels. The sap-wood of the shield does not 

 knit, therefore it is advisable to diminish its surface. 



Scion with Half Sap-wood. This is far superior to the above. The 

 cut is started in the same way (a, Fig. 10), but the knife is drawn 

 parallel to the axis of the cane, as in 6, Fig. 6. Drawing the blade 

 out the transversal section bb (Fig. 10) is made cutting through the 

 bark only. 



The bud is seized between the thumb and first finger of the right 

 hand and lifted (c) and pulled back (d) . As the transverse cut only 



FIG. 10. 

 PREPARING A HALF SAP-WOOD SCION -BUD. 



goes through the bark, in lifting the bud a tongue of sap-wood 

 remains attached to the cane (d) and adheres to the scion-bud. When 

 we lift this up it breaks off level with the bud, leaving a two-pronged 

 fork (e, Fig. 10). If the fork is not formed, the bud should be 



