110 



BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 



Necessary Implements. A common shoe-knife with the 

 corners rounded off, as shown in Fig. 81, makes a very cheap 

 and yet a most excellent budding knife. There are many specially 



designed forms of 

 knives for this pur- 

 pose, and most of 

 them have an ivory 



FIG. 81.-Beidd.iiy Knife. P int or blade in the 



base of the handle 



for lifting the bark, but the rounded corner of the back of the shoe- 

 knife is just as good as the best ivory blade for raising the bark, 

 and a shoe-knife costs not one-fourth as much as an ordinary bud- 

 ding knife, and generally holds an edge better. 



Besides a shoe-knife, tying material is necessary. For this 

 purpose basswood bark is perhaps the best, since it is but little 

 affected by moisture, and if put on wet remains tight and close. 

 But corn husks, cotton warp or woolen yarn answers very] well, 

 and a tying material called rhaphe is largely used for this purpose, 

 but it should be put on dry, while basswood bark should be used 

 wet. 



BASSWOOD TYING MATERIAL is prepared by soaking sections 

 of the bark in water until the inner layers separate easily. The 

 bark peels from the trees readily in June and July, and it requires 

 about three weeks of soaking in stagnant water to get the fiber in- 

 to the right condition. After the layers readily separate the bark 

 should be stripped into pieces about one- fourth of an inch wide. 

 If hard and stiff it may be softened by rubbing or pounding it. 



The Process of Budding will be found illustrated in Fig- 

 ures 82, 83, 84, 85 and^86, which show the successive stages in shield 

 budding, which is the form generally used in this country. When 

 everything is ready for the work prepare a lot of bud-sticks, as 

 shown in Fig. 80, by cutting off all but about one-half inch of the 

 leaf stalks. These sticks should be carefully protected from wilt- 

 ing, and it is customary to carry them in the field wrapped up in 

 moist cloth or oiled paper. If it is necessary to store them after 

 they are cut they should be kept in a cool, moist place in moes or 

 sawdust, or cloths, but not in water. They are often kept for a 

 week before using, but should be used as soon as may be after they 

 are cut. 



To Insert the Bud a smooth place should be selected (on 

 small stocks this should be about two inches from the ground) and 

 3n the north side if practicable, since buds are less liable to be in- 

 jured by freezing on that side than on any other. A cross-cut should 

 be made at this point, and from it a cut about 1% inches long, 

 as shown in Fig. 82; at the same time the bark should be raised, as 

 shown in Fig. 85. A bud-stick is then taken and a bud cut off with 

 ^he bark and a thin piece of wood (Fig. 86>) extending about one- 

 tialf inch above and below the bud, as shown in Fig. 83. The lower 



