HOW TO GET THE TREES 49 



the stock should be smoothly cut off about an inch 

 above the inserted bud. Care is required through- 

 out the year to protect the bud from the encroach- 

 ments of the stock. Very often suckers start from 

 the stocks and quickly choke out the engrafted bud 

 unless they are rubbed off. This work requires an 

 inspection of the entire field with considerable care 

 from two or four times during the early part of the 

 growing season. 



JUNE BUDS 



For some years American nurserymen have been 

 practicing a special method of propagating the 

 peach, known as June budding. This differs from 

 the process already described in the earlier inser- 

 tion of the bud and in the different results which 

 follow. The buds are set as early as possible in the 

 season, which means in middle and southern lati- 

 tudes, during the month of June. Of course the 

 stocks are planted early and forced to their utmost 

 growth in order to be ready for this extra early 

 budding. While the bark of the stock does not 

 slip as well during June as during favorable weather 

 in August, it may, nevertheless, be handled success- 

 fully by an expert budder. Some care is to be ex- 

 ercised, moreover, in securing scions on which the 

 buds are sufficiently mature for use at this time. 

 It is customary to set the buds considerably higher 

 in this form of budding and to leave a few good 

 leaves on the stock below the bud. As soon as the 

 bud has grown fast the top above the bud is cut 

 away. Sometimes this is done at two or three oper- 

 ations, a little at a time, as the Dutchman cut off 

 his dog's tail, in order not to give the tree too severe 

 a check. The raffia ties have to be removed very 



