GRAFTAGE 121 



and plump because immature buds do not grow. The bud 

 wood or bud stick should be kept in moist paper or sphagnum moss 

 as soon as cut. 



Prof. U. P. Hedrick, horticulturist of the Geneva Experiment 

 Station, gives the following dates for budding: 

 Apple. July 15 to August 1 Pear. July 10 to 15 



Cherry. Mazzard, July 20 to Plum. St. Julien, July 15 to 



August 1 August 1 



Mahaleb, August 20 to Sep- Myrobalan, August 15 to Sep- 



tember 1 tember 1 



Peach. August 20 to Septem- Quince. July 25 to August 15 



ber 10 Rose. July 1 to 10 (See p. 170) 



An expert budder will insert from 2,000 to 3,000 buds in a day, 

 employing helpers to do the tying. In actual commercial budding 

 the budder follows along a row of seedlings, passing over those not 

 large enough to work. The budder rests upon one knee, makes the 

 cuts and inserts the buds which he removes from bud sticks carried 

 in a small burlap sack slung over his shoulder. A boy follows with 

 the raffia cut to convenient lengths, and ties the bud. 



SHIELD BUDDING 



The bud stick. This is the simplest method of budding. The 

 buds are cut from the bud stick, holding the branch as shown in 

 fig. 66, with the top end toward the budder. The cut is made 

 downward and as smooth as possible. Cut off the leaf blades leav- 

 ing the petiole as a handle. Professional budders prepare the bud 

 stick by cutting the buds almost entirely through, allowing them 

 to hang so that they may be removed just before they are inserted 

 in the stock. 



The stock. The stock is best gone over several days before bud- 

 ding time so that the weeds may be removed from the base of the 

 plants. Interfering leaves and branches up to four or five inches 

 from the soil are also cut out, but this should not be done long 

 before the plants are budded else the bark will become hard. In 

 most nursery budding, except for weeping varieties and standards, 

 the buds are inserted an inch and a half above the soil. 



The budding knife should have a thin blade with a rounded end. 

 It must be of razor sharpness. 



Making the cut. First a T is cut in the stock (see fig. 67), care 

 being taken that the cuts are just through the bark, not into the 

 wood; this may be right-side up or inverted. Much is being said 

 of late in favor of the inverted T. The buds inserted in such a cut 

 certainly shed the water better. The edges are peeled back with 

 the rounded point or bone handle of the budding knife, and the bud 



