7 



THE NURSERY-BOOK. 



The essentials of a good budding knife are these : the very best 

 steel, a thin blade which has a curved cutting end (as shown in 

 Figs. 63 and 66), and lightness. The curved end of the blade is 

 used for making the incisions in the stock. The handle of the 

 budding-knife usually runs into a thin bone scalpel at the end, 

 and this portion is designed for the lifting or loosening of the 

 bark on the stock. Some budders, however, raise the bark with 

 the blade. A good form of blade, but one seldom made, has 

 a rounded end, the upper side of the curve being ground simply 

 to a thin edge. This blade may be used both for cutting the 

 bark and loosening it, thus overcoming the necessity of revers- 

 ing the knife everytime a bud is set. If this form of blade were 

 commonly known it would undoubtedly soon come into favor. 

 The blade of a common budding-knife can be ground to this 

 shape. 



The bud is usually cut about an inch long. Most budders cut 

 from below upwards, but some prefer to make a downward in- 

 cision. It does not matter just how the bud is cut, if the sur- 

 faces are smooth and even and the bud is not too thick. On a 

 stick a fourth or three-eighths inch through, the cut, at its deepest 

 point just under the bud, is about one-fourth the diameter of the 

 twig. A bit of wood is therefore removed with the bud, as 

 shown in Fig. 61. There is some discussion as to whether this 

 wood should be left upon the bud, but no definite experiments 

 have been made to show that it is injurious to the resulting tree. 

 Some budders remove the wood with the point of the knife or 

 by a. cleft twist as the bud is removed from the stick. But buds 

 appear to live equally well with wood attached or removed. 

 Some propagators' cut the buds as they go, while others prefer 

 to cut a whole stick before setting any, letting each bud hang by 

 a bit of bark at the top and which is cut off squarely when 

 wanted, as shown in Fig. 62. 



The wound or matrix which is to receive the bud is made by 

 two incisions, one vertical and one transverse (Fig. 63). These 

 are light cuts, extending only through the bark. The vertical 

 slit is usually made first and by the rounded end of the blade, 

 is an inch or inch and a half long. The transverse cut is 



