GRAFTAGE 



123 



the stock and the raffia should be cut, else the young buds will be 

 strangled or start to grow. Plants budded early will often start 

 to push a shoot, which often Winter-kills unless protected with soil 

 the first Winter. The top may then be cut off entirely or it may 

 be sawed partially through and the top bent over. Eventually, 

 however, the top should be removed. With plants budded later 

 the bud will remain dormant through the Winter and start in the 

 Spring. In this case, the main shoot should not be cut until after 

 the bud has grown in the Spring. (See fig. 68.) 



June budding. In the South June budding is com- 

 monly practiced but it is not common in the North. 

 Buds for this work are secured by cutting shoots of 

 the desired sorts before they sprout in Spring, and 

 keeping them in a dormant state in a cold cellar, or 

 even buried outdoors. Budding is done as soon as 

 the bark peels in June. In the June work the bud 

 can be placed a foot or more from the soil so as to 

 increase the height of the tree when offered for sale. 

 Below this height branches are not wanted on a 

 Peach tree, so it is immaterial what the part below the 

 seedling is. The stock should be headed back to about 

 six inches above the bud. As soon as the union is as- 

 sured, strip the foliage from the part above the bud; 

 but do not cut the stem away until later in the 

 season, as it provides a stake to which to tie the grow- 

 ing bud. It is better to leave the foliage below the 

 kud for awhile, cutting it away gradually as the bud 

 advances. To strip it all off as soon as the bud starts 



has started , i j j i i j 



to grow. The has a weakening effect, which is soon perceived. 



top can now 

 be removed 



PATCH OR FLUTE BUDDING 



It is much more difficult to make a successful patch bud than a 

 shield bud. The bud is cut from the branch with a square of bark 

 and a square the same size is cut from the stock (see figs. 70 and 71.) 

 The bud must fit nicely into the stock, otherwise the union is diffi- 

 cult. This method is used mainly with very thick- barked plants 

 and is done in the late Spring. 



When a whole ring of bark is removed with the bud, the process 

 is called ring or annular budding. (See p. 195, fig. 97.) This is 

 merely a modification of the patch bud method and is sometimes 

 used on the Grape. Patch budded plants are treated just as are 

 the shield budded ones. 



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