PROPAGATION OF CITRUS TREES. 185 



On the other hand, it must not be lost sight of that 

 on many soils one would be running the risk of having 

 sweet, mandarin or lemon trunks attacked by mal-di-goma, 

 or foot-rot, even where worked upon sour orange, pomelo 

 or other resistant stocks, if the point of union be placed 

 too close to the ground. They are just as liable to attack 

 as though they were seedling varieties of the groups just 

 mentioned. To avoid this, the point of union should be 

 some distance above the ground. In lemon districts, where 

 irrigation either by furrow or basin methods is resorted to, 

 as in California, for instance, the point of union between 

 stock and cion should be a sufficient distance above the 

 ground to protect the lemon trunk from the moisture pro- 

 vided by irrigation. Unless this be done the trunks may 

 become diseased. From these remarks it will be seen that 

 a knowledge of the conditions must determine the point 

 at which it would be best to insert the buds. 



The method of budding most commonly used, and 

 the one used entirely in nursery work, is that known as 

 shield or T budding. In California the method properly 

 known by this name is used, while in Florida and Louisi- 

 ana the reversed method, or inverted T incision is used. 

 The best practice in the Islands is to follow the Florida 

 and Louisiana method. The reason usually assigned for 

 the use of the reversed method is that it excludes water 

 from the cuts. But if waxed cloth is used, this explana- 

 tion has little force. Baltet says that it is used to avoid 

 the smothering of the bud by the superabundance of sap. 

 This holds good for our summer conditions, but is scarcely 

 applicable to spring budding. It is perhaps true that the 

 reversed method is commonly used as a matter of custom. 

 At any rate we have secured as good results by one method 

 ns bv the other. 



