16 TOP-WORKING SEEDLING PECAN TREES. 



ditions, they may be forced into budding condition by slashing off part 

 of the growth above where the buds are to be inserted. In our top- 

 working experiments this fact was further emphasized by a windstorm 

 which broke off many of the sappy shoots just above where the bud was 

 put on. Every single one of these buds "took," though some others, just 

 as carefully put on, failed. The success of all the buds on the wind- 

 broken shoots was undoubtedly due to the forcing of the cambium 

 growth just at the point where the bud was inserted. 



THE CION. 



Although it is desirable to have the cambium of the stock in an active 

 growing condition, it is quite the reverse with the cion. The reason of 

 this is evident, for if the cion were active, it would soon exhaust its 

 small supply of food and die before the union could be formed and it 

 could get its permanent supply of nourishment from the root. It is 

 desirable to have cions fresh and firm but in a quiescent condition until 

 pushed into activity by the growth of the stock. If, on the other hand, 

 the cions or buds become too dry the sap will not be able to revive them 

 and no union will be made. 



For patch budding, the buds may be cut from cions or bud sticks of 

 the present or the past season's growth. Figure 13 shows a bud stick 

 of the present season's growth from which the leaves have been cut. 

 Such a bud stick cannot be obtained until July, for before that time the 

 bark is so tender that it is impossible to get the bud patch off the stick 

 without crushing it or peeling off the cuticle of the bark. The basal 

 buds of the present season's growth (figure 13, a, a, a) make the best 

 buds, because they are more mature and dormant than the buds above 

 them, and as they have shed the leaf stalk, they can be tied in more 

 easily and snugly than those with the thick, fleshy base of the leaf stalk 

 attached. Some budders make a practice of cutting off the leaves ten 

 days or two weeks before they commence budding and leaving the cions 

 on the trees to ripen the buds and shed off the bases of the petioles. 

 There is in this way no danger of the thick fleshy leaf base decaying 

 under the wrap and souring and killing the buds. 



Figure 14 shows budwood of the previous season's growth. This bud- 

 wood can be cut during the winter and kept over in fresh dormant con- 

 dition by being packed in damp sawdust and carried over in ordinary 



