PEACH-TREE. 
235 
may be packed in moistened moss; or if shortly to be used, they may be put 
into a vessel of water ; though in general, they should be used as soon as possi- 
ble after gathering. Before the buds are prepared, let the stock be made ready 
to receive them. At the part fixed on for inoculation, which should be smooth, 
and rather on the northerly side of the stock, make an incision about an inch and 
a half in length, with a sharp knife, quite through the bark, but not into the 
wood, in the form of a letter I, as denoted 
by (a), in the adjoining figure. This 
being done, proceed quickly and take off 
a bud by holding a shoot in one hand 
with the thickest end from you, and with 
the knife in the other hand, enter it about 
three-fourths of an inch below the bud, 
cutting nearly half way into the wood of 
the shoot, continuing it with one clean 
slanting cut, about three-fourths of an 
inch above the bud, sufficiently deep to 
take oft' part of the wood along with it, 
the whole to be about an inch and a half 
long, as represented by (6) ; then directly 
with the thumb and finger, or point of the knife, slip off the woody part remain- 
ing on the bud, and observe whether the eye or germ of the bud remains perfect ; 
if not, and a little hole appears in that part, it is unfit for use, or, as the nursery- 
men say, " the bud has lost its root," and another must be prepared. This 
being done, place the back part of the bud or shield between your lips, and with 
the flat haft of the knife, or a piece of ivory or bone formed for the purpose, sep- 
arate the bark of the stock () for the admission of the bud, which must be 
closely inserted between the wood and bark in the aperture (c.) Then cut off 
the top part of the shield containing the bud, even with the upper horizontal or 
cross-cut of the letter I, in order to let it completely into its place, and exactly 
join the upper edge of the shield with the bark of the upper transverse cut, so 
that the descending sap may immediately enter the back of the shield, and 
deposit granulated matter between it and the wood, so as to effect a living union. 
The parts are next to be immediately bound round with a water-proof bass liga- 
ture, or some substitute, as in (d), beginning a little below the incision, proceed- 
ing upwards closely round every part, except just over the eye of the bud, and 
sufficiently tight to keep the whole secure, and to exclude the air and moisture, 
without the use of grafting-wax or clay. In a fortnight, at farthest, after per- 
forming the operation, such buds as have united may be known by their fresh 
appearance, and in three weeks, all those which have succeeded, must have their 
ligatures loosened, and in a week or two more, entirely removed. In order to 
guard against the borer, (iEgeria,) let there be laid round each tree, in August, 
about a pint of coarse sand, so as to cover the roots and the tenderest part of the 
bark; and during the succeeding autumn, the same care should be observed, as 
in the early part of the season, to preserve the leaves. 
SECOND YEAR. 
March 1st. Cut off the tree in a slanting direction, about five inches above the 
point of inoculation ; and let about a quart of the same kind of sand be placed 
(round the root of the tree, as in the summer preceding. July 1st. Clear the 
ground of weeds, and treat the shoot from the inoculated bud precisely as the 
original stock was the first year, with the same care to preserve the leaf at the 
j)ase of each side-shoot, taking off from time to time, as they put forth, all the 
