1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FAHMER. 



329 



ABOUT BUDDING. ture their growtfi, and require to be budded in the 



time in which budding is usually performed hottet part of our summer In the old method, the 

 , . T 1 ^ ^1 -jji 1? o J. u bud havmg only a shield of bark With but a particle 



of wood in the heart oi the bud, is much more lia- 



The 



m 



is from early in July to the middle of September ; 

 plums and cherries are among the earliest to be 

 budded, and pears, apples and quinces the latest. 

 If the season in July, or even in August, be very 

 dry, budding had better be postponed until there 

 are copious rains. Stocks, from a quarter of an 

 inch to an inch in diameter may be budded, al- 

 though those of an inch are more suitable for graft- 

 ing. The buds should be selected from thrifty 

 shoots that have nearly done growing. 



Shield, or T budding, is the most approved 

 mode in all countries, and is described by Downing 

 as follows : 



Having your stick of buds ready, 

 choose a smooth portion of the stock. 

 When the latter is small, let it be near 

 the ground, and, if equally convenient, 

 select also the north side of the stock, 

 as less exposed to the sun. Make an 

 upright incision in the bark from an 

 inch to an inch and a half long, and at 

 the top of this make a cross cut, so 

 that the whole shall form a T. From 

 the stick of buds, Fig. 1,) your knife be- 

 ing very sharp, cut a thin, smooth slice 

 of wood and bark containing a bud. — 

 With your budding knife, now raise 

 the bark on each side of the incision, 

 just wide enough to admit easily the 

 prepared bud. Taking hold of the 

 footstalk of the leaf, insert the bud 

 under the bark, pushing it gently down 

 to the bottom of the incision. If the 

 upper portion of the bud projects 

 above the horizontal part of the T, cut 

 it smoothly off now, so that it may 

 com])letely fit. A bandage of the soft 

 matting is now tied pretty firmly over 

 the whole wound, commencing at the 

 bottom, and leaving the bud, and the 

 footstalk of the leaf only exposed to 

 the light and air. 



Common shield-budding, Fig. 4, practised in all 

 gardens in Europe, differs from the foregoing only 

 m one respect — the removal of the slice of wood 

 contained in the bud. This is taken out with the 

 point of the knife, holding the bud or shield by 

 the leaf stalk, with one hand, inserting the knife 

 under the wood at the lower 

 extremity, and then raising and 

 drawing out the wood by bend- 

 ing it upwards and downwards, 

 with a slight jerk, until it is loos- 

 ened from the bark ; always ta- 

 king care that a small portion 

 of the wood remains behind to 

 fill up the hollow at the base 

 or heart of the bud. The bud 

 thus prepared is inserted pre- 

 cisely as before described. 



The American variety of shield 

 budding is found greatly prefer- 

 able to the European mode, at 

 least for this climate. Many 

 sorts of fruit trees, especially 

 plums and cherries, nearly ma- 



ble to be destroyed by heat, or dry- 

 ness, than when the slice of wood is 

 left behind, in the American way. 

 Taking out this wood is always an 

 operation requiring some dexterity 

 and practice, as few buds grow when 

 their eye or heart wood is damaged. 

 The American method, therefore, 

 requires less skill, can be done ear- 

 lier in the season with younger wood, 

 is performed in much less time, 

 and is uniformly more successful. 

 It has been very fairly tested upon 

 hundreds of thousand fruit trees, in 

 our gardens, for the last twenty 

 years, and, although practised Eng- 

 lish budders coming here at first are greatly pre- 

 judiced against it, as being in direct opposition to 

 one of the most essential features in the old mode, 

 yet a fair trial has never 

 failed to convince them 

 of the superiority of tlie 

 new. 



^fter treatment. — In 

 two weeks after the op- 

 eration you will be able 

 to see whether the bud 

 has taken, by its plump- 

 ness and freshness. If it 

 has failed, you may, if the 

 bark still parts readily, 

 make another trial; a 

 clever budder will not 

 lose more than G or 8 

 per cent. If it has suc- 

 ceeded, after a fortnight 

 more has elapsed, the 

 bandage must be loos- 

 ened, or if the stock has 

 swelled much, it should 

 be removed altogether. 

 When budding has been performed very late, we 

 have occasionally found it an advantage to leave tlie 

 bandage on during the winter. 



As soon as the buds commence 

 swelling in the ensuing spring, head 

 down the stock, with a sloping back 

 cut, within two or three inches of 

 the bud. The bud will start vigor- 

 ously, and all "robbers," as the 

 shoots of the stock near to and be- 

 low the bud are termed, must be 

 taken off from time to time. To 

 secure the upright growth of the 

 bud, and to prevent its being bro- 

 ken by the winds, it is tied when a 

 few inches long to that portion of 

 the stock left for the purpose. Fig. 

 5. About mid summer, if the shoot 

 is strong, this support may be re- 

 moved, and the sujierfluous portion 

 of the stock smoothly cut away, 

 when it will be rapidly covered with Treatment of the 



Fig 4 — European Shield 

 Budding. 



Fis. 2. — .American 

 mhield Budding. 



youns 



bark. 



growing Bud. 



I^° New white wheat of the first quality is arriv- 

 , ing at Augusta, Georgia. 



