SHIELD-BUDDING. 



99 



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. 85. 

 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 deft twist as the bud is taken from the 

 stick. But buds appear to live equally well with wood 

 attached or removed. The bit of 

 wood probably serves a useful 

 purpose in retaining moisture in 

 the bud, but it at the same time 

 interposes a foreign body between 

 the healing surfaces, for the bark 

 of the bud unites directly with the 

 surface of the stock. Probably 

 the very youngest portions of the 

 wood in the bud unite with the 

 stock, but if the budding-knife 

 cuts deep, the denser part of the 

 wood should be removed from 

 the bud. This remark is particu- 

 larly true, also, of all buds which 



are likely to be cut into the pith, 



QO. Preparing the stock 

 as in the nut trees. 



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

 by two incisions, one vertical and one transverse (Fig. 90). 

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

 vertical slit is usually made first and by the rounded end 

 of the blade. This is an inch or inch and a half long. The 

 transverse cut is made across the top of the vertical cut by 

 one rocking motion of the blade. The corners of the bark 

 may be lifted a little by an outward motion of the blade so 

 as to allow the bud to be pushed in, but unless the bark 

 slips very freely it will have to be loosened by the end of the 

 blade or by the scalpel on the reverse end of the handle, as 



