56 THE DIFFERENT BUDDING OPERATIONS 



due to peculiar climatic conditions or to the length of the 

 growing season are widely variable. It is the practice 

 among nursery companies of the southern and western 

 states to bud practically all of the stone fruits while the apple 

 and in some cases the pear and the various nuts are grafted. 

 In the central states the apple is the chief fruit grafted, all 

 others being more easily budded. In the colder parts of 

 the United States the practice is to bud almost everything. 

 The only wide difference between the eastern and western 

 states is the method used on the nut fruits. In the more 

 arid regions of the west grafting is preferred, while in the 

 humid conditions of the south and east budding is the usual 

 practice. 



Most growers agree that the budding operations are 

 cheaper and come at a time of tho year when it is easier 

 to do the work, also some time is saved in the number of 

 years required to grow good nursery trees. The stone 

 fruits make a very rapid growth, are relatively short-lived 

 and adaptable to a wide area. The pome fruits grow more 

 slowly, and more care and expense is necessary to pro- 

 duce a first-class nursery tree. The various citrus fruits 

 are still more difficult to grow and can only be handled 

 successfully in a few of the warmer places of the United 

 States. The hardest of all nursery trees to grow are the 

 nut fruits. This is in part due to the fact that nuts have 

 not been propagated for a very long time and the best 

 methods of handling them have not been worked out. 



The Prevailing Practice. If any general classification 

 of the modern methods of nursery propagation were possible, 

 the following would represent a fair average condition: 



