FRUIT GARDEN. 227 



which the scions are to be inserted ; as it is the 

 general practice to graft standards at six feet from 

 the ground, half standards at three feet, and dwarfs 

 at six or eight inches : but both Millar and Knight 

 recommend low grafting in preference to high, " in 

 all cases where the durability of the tree is an ob- 

 ject with the cultivator ;" and our own experience, 

 though comparatively small, is decidedly with them. 



6. Of propagation by Buds. This method is a 

 modification of the former, and differs from it only 

 in this, that in grafting we employ a shoot already 

 matured into wood ; and in budding, a shoot in em- 

 bryo. The rules which govern in this case are to 

 select buds from lateral shoots only, and from the 

 middle of these in preference to either extremity ; 

 to take them in moist or cloudy weather, or (if this 

 condition of the atmosphere do not exist) early in 

 the morning or late in the evening, as at these times 

 the perspiration of the leaves being least active, the 

 buds will suffer least by the operation. If, after re- 

 moving the woody part (which comes off with the 

 shield), you discover a hole or opening under the 

 bud, it is unfit for use, having, in technical language, 

 lost its root. If, on the other hand, the bottom be 

 sound, lose no time in inserting it in the stock on 

 which it is destined to grow ; and in doing this, pre- 

 fer the north to the south side of the stem, and 

 smooth and shining bark to that which is dry and 

 spotted; and be particularly careful to cover the 

 edges of the shield with the bark of the stem, and 

 to tie with double ligatures ; the one intended mere- 

 ly to keep the bud in its place, the other, and up- 

 permost, to obstruct, in some degree, the ascent of 

 the sap.* 



The time for budding is from the first of July to 

 the last of August ; but the true criterion in this 

 respect is the condition of the bud, and of the bark 



* Encyclopaedia of Gardening. 



