52 CITRUS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



are trimmed, leaving a clear stock. The trimmer should also 

 remove all thorns for about six inches from the ground, as 

 they will be in the way of the budder, and all cuts should be 

 made close and covered with rubber paint, so that they may 

 soon heal over. The brush is then gathered and burnt. As 

 the ground is packed by the trimmers, it is loosened by run- 

 ning a cultivator between the rows; then they are left to be 

 budded. 



SPRING BUDDING. 



Generally in the months of March and April, as soon as the 

 trees begin to put forth, and the sap flows freely, it is then the 

 time to bud. Everything should be prepared ; no time should 

 be lost, as the buds first inserted will sometimes start in less 

 than three weeks, with much vigor, and by summer will have 

 a large and thrifty top. The buds should be looked over at 

 least ten days after they are inserted, and all those that show 

 signs of dying should be rebudded, in order to give them an 

 early start, and that they grow even with the others. 



SUMMER BUDDING. 



Summer budding is generally done in July and August. It 

 is not considered as good as spring budding, because the buds 

 do not start even ; and as the greater portion of them start so 

 late, their growth is so tender by the time winter sets in, that 

 if they pass through it, become prematurely hardened by the 

 cold weather, which causes the tree to become stunted. 



SELECTING BUDS. 



In selecting buds from a tree, nothing but the best buds 

 should be selected. This point is of practical importance, for 

 if weak or immature buds are inserted, they remain on the 

 tree at least a year before starting. Immature or imperfect 

 buds have often been inserted into trees, as good buds have 

 been scarce. In order to start them, the tops of the trees 

 were removed ; the buds not being mature, failed to start. 

 The growth and all suckers were from time to time removed 



