BUDDING. 



BUDDING. 



the same year, as the season for its perform- 

 ance is protracted, for some one or other of 

 the varieties, for some three months. Although 

 July and August constitute the ordinary season 

 for budding, the plum and the cherry may 

 often v be budded in the latter part of June, and 

 the peach, apricot, and nectarine as late as the 

 middle of September. Youth may readily ac 

 quire the art, by little practice, under the direc- 

 tions we are about to give ; and we know a 

 young lady who is an adept in it, and who 

 practises it annually as a pleasant recreation, 

 as well as a useful labour. We have often 

 been treated with delicious peaches produced 

 by the buds which she has inserted. 



The first consideration is to provide stalks, 

 if this provision has not already been made. 

 Seeds may be collected the coming season in 

 almost every family. Those of stone fruit 

 may be mixed with earth, or deposited in a 

 hole in the garden, and in the autumn buried 

 superficially in the earth, to expose them to the 

 expanding influence of the frost ; and in the 

 spring those of the peach and plum that have 

 not burst the shell should be cracked, and 

 the whole sown in a well-prepared seed-bed. 

 The cherries may be sown immediately after 

 they are taken from the fruit, and the apple, 

 pear, and quince either in autumn or spring. 

 All the kinds will generally grow the first sea- 

 son. The same rule applies to plants as to 

 animals : the better condition they are kept in 

 while young, the more profitable they will be- 

 come at maturity. Thus two or three roods 

 of ground will suffice a farmer for a nursery 

 of choice fruit, from which he may replenish 

 his orchard and his garden at pleasure, and 

 readily appropriate to his use every new va- 

 riety which comes under his observation. No 

 one will regret the trifling labour and attention 

 which he has bestowed on a little plantation 

 of this kind, after he has begun to realize the 

 fruits of it. Ornamental shrubs and trees, to 

 embellish the grounds about his buildings, 

 may be added without cost and with trifling 

 labour. 



A bud is an organized plant in embryo, with 

 roots, branches, and foliage, and, like a seed, 

 possesses individual vitality capable of deve- 

 lopement and the reproduction of its species. 

 The process of budding is the transferring this 

 embryo plant from its parent tree to another 

 tree, which must at least be of the same genus, 

 if not of the same species. The apricot and 

 nectarine may be, and generally are, budded 

 upon the peach ; the plum and the peach are 

 budded on each other, and the pear and apple 

 may be worked on the wild crab and haw- 

 thorn ; and the former is put on the quince to 

 produce dwarf trees. To render the transfer 

 or budding successful, three things are requi- 

 site : 1. That the bud be in a proper condition 

 to transfer; 2. That the stalk be in condition 

 to receive and nourish it; and, 3. That the 

 transfer be skilfully made. The bud ought to 

 be matured, i. e., of full growth, and yet not so 

 hAd and firm as to cause injury in separating 

 it*rom its parent. The stock must peel 

 freely, as this is necessary for the insertion 

 of the bud, and indicates the presence of 

 what is termed the cambium, which is the soft 

 334 



partially-formed woody matter underlaying the 

 bark, and which ripens into indurated wood. 

 It is the source of nourishment to the bud, and 

 the bond of union between it and the stock. 

 The operator must therefore use caution that 

 he injures neither the bud, the bark, nor the 

 cambium, as these all exercise important offices 

 in effecting the union ; and he must withal 

 take care to apply his ligatures properly. It 

 will be seen, from these remarks, that both the 

 stock and the graft should be in a state of ac- 

 tive growth, and the more vigorous the better, 

 when the budding process is performed. It is 

 also preferable to bud when the weather is 

 cloudy, but not wet. Twigs for budding may 

 be preserved for many days with care. They 

 should be immediately divested of their leaves, 

 but not wholly of their leaf-stalks or petioles, 

 to prevent the exhaustion of moisture, and 

 may then be wrapped in fresh grass, wet cloths, 

 or with their butt ends preserved in moisture. 



Fig. 2. 



The only implement necessary is a budding- 

 knife (fig. 2), and the only preparation some 

 bass matting, or the inner bark of the bass- 

 wood or linden. Filaments torn from the husk 

 of Indian corn are also recommended. 



Professor Thouin enumerates twenty spe- 

 cies or varieties of grafting, most of which are 

 only practised by amateurs and professional 

 gardeners. We shall describe only the com- 

 mon mode, which is in general practice in 

 nurseries. We take it from the Encyclopedia 

 of Gardening. 



Shield-budding, or T budding, is thus per- 

 formed: Fix on a smooth part of the side of 

 the stock, rather from than towards the sun, 

 and of a height depending, as in grafting, oa 

 whether dwarf, half, or whole standard trees 

 are desired; then, with the budding-knife, 

 make a horizontal cut across the rind, quite 

 through to the firm wood ; from the middle of 

 this transverse cut make a slit downward, per- 

 pendicularly, an inch or more long, going also 

 quite through to the wood. This done, pro- 

 ceed with all expedition to take off a bud ; 

 holding the cutting or scion in one hand, with 

 the thickest end outward, and, with the knife 

 in the other hand, enter it about half an inch 

 or more below a bud, cutting nearly halfway 

 into the wood of the shoot, continuing it with 

 one clear slanting cut about half an inch or 

 more above the bud, so deep as to take a part 

 of the bud along with it, the whole about an 

 inch and a half long (a, fig. 1); then directly 

 with the thumb and finger, or point of the 

 knife, clip off the woody part remaining to the 

 bud ; which done, observe whether the eye or 

 germ of the bud remain perfect; if not, and 

 a little hole appears in that part, it is impro- 

 per, or, as gardeners express it, the bud has 

 lost its root, and another must be prepared. 

 This done, placing the back part of the bud or 

 shield between your lips, expeditiously with 

 the flat haft of the knife separate the back of 

 the stock on each side of the perpendicular cut 

 clear to the wood (c), for the admission of the 

 bud, which directly slip down, close between 



