GRAFTING 



GRAFTING 



1365 



1675. Wrong 

 way of cutting 

 a bud. 



mate contact with the cambium of the stock. In ordin- 

 ary operations this truncheon of wood is not removed. 

 Most budders cut all the buds on a stick before they 

 insert any of them; but they are allowed to hang to 

 the stick by their upper ends, being 

 snipped off by the knife as fast as they 

 are needed (Fig. 1674). 



Wester writes as follows on the re- 

 quirements in 

 budding citrus 

 fruits (Bull. 

 No. 27, Bur. 

 Agric., Philip- 

 pine Isls.), and 

 the directions 

 will apply to 

 other plants; 

 and he gives 

 pictures (Figs. 

 1675, 1676) of 

 part of the 

 manual opera- 

 tion: "Many 

 people are un- 

 der the impression that budding 

 is a very complicated operation, 

 correspondingly difficult to learn 

 and to perform. As a matter of 

 fact this is not true. Some judg- 

 ment must of course be exercised 

 in all phases of the work, but the 

 art of budding itself is a mere 

 matter of manual skill that anyone should be able to 

 master who is at all deft in the handling of a knife. 

 Necessary essentials for success are: (1) Stock plants 

 in condition for budding; i. e., the flow of sap must 

 be good so that the bark separates readily from the 

 wood. (2) A suitable budding-knife, the edge of which 

 should be sharp and keen as a 

 razor, and clean of all impuri- 

 ties; an ordinary pocket-knife will 

 hardly answer the purpose. (3) 

 Proper bud-wood; immature bud- 

 wood will not 'take' and the proper 

 cutting of buds from old and hard 

 bud - wood is 

 difficult. (4) 

 The bud-wood 

 should never 

 be allowed to 

 dry out by be- 

 ing exposed to 

 the air or sun. 

 (5) The buds 

 should be in- 

 serted immedi- 

 ately after be- 

 ing cut, and 

 the bud tied 

 at once. (6) No 

 foreign matter 

 or water should 

 be allowed to 

 enter the bud 

 incision. (7) 



1676. Proper way of cutting a bud. The bud sh 5 ll d 



be cut so that 



there is no break or tear in its tissues." 



The stock is first prepared by removing all the leaves 

 and twigs from the area to be budded. In the case of 

 nursery stock, it is customary for a boy to strip 

 the lower leaves of the stock a day or so in advance 

 of the budding. If the stripping is done three or 

 four days or a week before the budding, it will 

 sometimes cause the bark to set and, therefore, 

 interfere with the operation. Nursery trees are 



usually budded as near the ground as the operator can 

 work not more than 2 or 3 inches above the surface. 

 In most cases, the budder prefers to set the bud on 

 the north side of the stock, that it may be shaded from 

 the hot sun. 



A T-shaped incision, just through the bark, is made 

 on the stock (Fig. 1677). The crosswise incision is 

 usually made first. As the operator takes his knife 

 from the last incision, he gives it a deft turn to right and 

 left and loosens the flaps of the bark, so that the bud 

 is easily inserted. The bud is now taken from the 

 stick and shoved into the matrix underneath the bark 

 until it is entirely within the cleft (Fig. 1678). A boy 

 follows and ties the bud, making four or five deft turns 

 and holding the strand by covering the lower end under- 

 neath one of the turns (Fig. 1679). No wax or other 

 mastic is used. Any soft strand may be employed 

 for the tying. It was the old custom to use bass- 



1677. Shield-bud- 

 ding. 



1678. The bud set in 

 the matrix. 



1679. The bud 

 tied. 



wood bark, which was taken in the spring from the 

 inner layers of the bark of the basswood tree. This 

 material was then macerated in water and afterward 

 pounded to make it soft. Yarn is also used. At present, 

 raffia is universally employed. This is the stripping of 

 an oriental palm, and it can be bought in the market 

 and is cheaper than home-made materials; it is also 

 better. It is customary to lay it on the ground or in a 

 damp place over night to soften it and to allow the 

 operator to flatten out the strands. This raffia is cut 

 in the length to suit before the tying is begun, and the 

 bunch of strands is then held underneath the belt or 

 carried in a box. For budding, the operator prefers a 

 small, thin-bladed knife, with a rounded or thumb- 

 shaped cutting surface (Fig. 1680). Budding knives 

 are regularly on the market. 



When budding is performed late in the season, the 

 bud does not throw out a shoot until the following 

 spring. It merely grows fast or "sticks" to the stock. 

 Two or three weeks after the setting of the bud, the 

 bandage is cut so that it will not restrict the swelling of 

 the stock. If the stock grows very rapidly, it may be 

 necessary to cut the bandage before that time. Noth- 

 ing more is done with the tree until the following spring, 

 at which time the whole tree is cut off about 1 inch above 

 the bud. This one bud now throws out a shoot and 

 makes a very heavy growth, being impelled by the 

 strong root. In this first season of growth, a peach tree 

 will attain the height of 4 to 6 feet, and be ready for 

 market in autumn. If the bud is set early in the 

 spring it will throw out a shoot the same season; but 

 ordinarily it would not make the growth in one season 

 that the bud does in the other case. Spring-budding in 

 the open air is rarely employed in nursery practice. It 

 is sometimes used in the top-budding of established 



1680. Budding knife. (X 1 A) 



