82 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE CHAP, xm 



and after the weary waiting for years for the produce, no- 

 thing but disappointment may be the result. But by adopt- 

 ing the system of budding or grafting, the fruit could be 

 reaped in a much shorter time, with the certainty that all the 

 characteristics of the original plant would be preserved. 



BUDDING. This is simply the removal of a bud and a 

 portion of bark from one tree, and so placing it under the bark 

 of another tree that it will adhere and grow into a branch 

 in the same way as it would have done on the parent stem. 

 By this method the parent may be rapidly multiplied. The 

 How to bud. operation is performed in the following manner. The bud 

 should be cut carefully from the branch of the parent with 

 the base of the leaf stalk and about three quarters of an 

 inch of the bark attached (Fig A.) ; a portion of wood will 

 always come away with the bud if it be cut properly, and 

 this must be gently dug out from the bark with the point of 

 the penknife. The bud is then ready for insertion under 

 the bark of the stock, which is done as follows : The in- 

 cisions, like the letter T with a long tail, are made beneath a 

 growing leaf on the stock (Fig. B.). The incisions should 

 go right through the bark, but not into the wood. The 

 bark is to be carefully lifted up from the wood on both sides 

 by the handle of the budding knife, and the bud is then 

 inserted at the top and gently pushed down until it is firmly 

 held by the flaps of the incision (Fig C). If any of the 

 bark of the bud remain outside, it is to be cut off so that it 

 fits the cross cut in the stock accurately. A ligature of bast, 

 or worsted, or narrow tape, is then to be applied so that the 

 bud is bound down firmly but not tightly. The ligature 

 covers up all the incision and allows the bud to expand. 

 A leaf may now be tied over the part in order to keep off 

 the sun and too much moisture, and the operation is 

 complete. 



GRAFTING, as we have seen, is analogous to propagation 

 by cuttings. A cutting called a scion, is taken from the 



