662 



GRAFTAGE 



GRAFTAGE 



changing the tree into a different variety. Sometimes 

 the buds are inserted in limbs which are two and three 

 years old; but it is usually preferable, if the tree is of 

 some age, to cut back the tree somewhat heavily the 

 previous season or the previous spring, in order to get 

 a growth of suckers into which the buds may be set. 

 Third-rate stocks are sometimes set in nursery rows 

 and budded the following July in western nurseries. 



The cutting from which the buds are taken is known 

 to budders as a stick (Fig. 931). In early spring bud- 

 ding, this stick is the last year's growth of the variety 

 which it is desired to propagate. Later in the season 

 the stick is the twig which is grown during that season. 

 Not all the buds on the stick are strong enough or good 

 enough for budding. The budder will usually discard 

 the weak ones at the top and at the bottom, unless he is 

 very much pressed for buds, as may be the case with 

 new or rare varieties. If the stick is taken late in the 

 season the leaves will be on; but these are quickly cut 

 off to prevent too much evaporation from the cutting. 

 About one -fourth of an inch of the leaf -stalk is left to 

 serve as a handle to the bud. 



The ordinary operation of budding is that which is 

 shown in the illustrations. It is known as shield-bud- 

 ding, from the shape of the removed bud. With a thin- 

 bladed, sharp knife, the operator slices off the bud by 

 placing his thumb beneath the bud and making a deft 

 and quick stroke of the blade. Just under the bud he 

 cuts a little into the wood. Some budders afterward re- 

 move this bit of wood; but this is not essential. If this 

 wood is somewhat hard and dry, or if it carries some 

 pith with it, it may serve to dry out the bud or to pre- 

 vent intimate contact with the cambium of 1he stock. In 

 ordinary operations this truncheon of wood is not re- 

 moved. Most budders cut all the buds on a stick before 

 they insert any of them; but they are allowed to hang to 

 the stick by their upper or lower ends, being snipped off 

 by the knife as fast as they are needed (Fig. 931). 



The stock is first prepared by removing all the leaves 

 and twigs from the area which is to be budded. In the 

 case of nursery stock, it is customary for a boy to strip 

 the lower leaves of the stock a day or so in advance of 



f^*ja8Sfi 



'- r-f. 



939. Cleft-grafting of an old tree. 



the budding. If the stripping is done three or four days 

 or a week before the budding, it will sometimes cause 

 the bark to set and, therefore, interfere with the opera- 

 tion. Nursery trees are usually budded as near the ground 

 as the operator can work not more than 2 or 3 inches 

 above the surface. In most cases, the budder prefers to 



set the bud on the north side of the stock in order that 



it may be shaded from the hot sun. 

 A T-shaped incision, just through the bark, is made 



on the stock (Fig. 932). The crosswise incision is usu- 

 ally made first. As the operator takes his 



knife from the last incision which he 



makes, he gives it a deft turn to right and 



left and loosens the flaps of the bark, so 



that the bud can easily be inserted. The 



bud is now taken from the stick and 



shoved into the matrix \inderneath the 



bark until it is entirely within the cleft 



(Fig. 933). A boy follows and ties the bud, 



making 4 or 5 deft turns and holding the 



strand by covering the lower end under- 

 neath one of the turns (Fig. 934). No wax 



or other covering is used. Any soft strand 



may be used for this purpose. It was the 



old custom to use basswood bark, which 



was taken in the spring from the inner 



layers of the bark of the basswood tree. 



This material was then macerated in water 



and afterwards pounded to make it soft. 



Yarn is also used. At the present time 



raffia is universally employed. This is the 



stripping of an oriental palm, and it can 



be bought in the market at about 20 cents 



per pound, and at that price is cheaper 



than home-made materials ; it is also bet- 

 ter. It is customary to lay it on the ground 



or in a damp place over night in order to 



soften it and to allow the operator to flat- 940. 



ten out the strands. This raffia is cut in Bark -grafting. 



the length to suit before the tying is begun, 



and the bunch" of strands is then held underneath the 



belt or carried in a box. For budding, the operator pre- 

 fers a small, thin-bladed knife, with a rounded or 



thumb-shaped cutting surface (Fig. 935). 



When budding is performed late in the season, the 

 bud does not throw out a shoot until the following 

 spring. It merely grows fast or "sticks "to the stock. 

 Two or three weeks after the setting of the bud, the 

 bandage is cut so that it will not restrict the swelling of 

 the stock. If the stock grows very rapidly, it may be 

 necessary to cut the bandage before that time. Nothing 

 more is done with the tree until the following spring, at 

 which time the whole tree is cut off about one inch above 

 the bud. This one bud now throws out shoots and makes 

 a very heavy growth, being impelled by the strong root. 

 During this first season of growth a peach tree will at- 

 tain the height of four to six feet, and be "ready for mar- 

 ket in the fall. If the bud is set early in the spring 

 it will throw out a shoot the same season; but ordinarily 

 it would not make the growth in one season that the bud 

 does in the other case. Spring budding in the open air 

 is rarely employed in nursery practice. It is sometimes 

 used in the top-budding of established plants. In all 

 budding practices, it is important to keep down the 

 suckers from the stock. 



In the South a peach tree may be large enough in 

 June, if the seeds are planted in February or March, to 

 budded. The bud will grow the same year, and by 

 fall will make a salable tree. This operation of budding 

 in early summer on stocks which grow that year is 

 known as June-budding. As a rule, June-budded trees 

 are smaller than fall-budded trees; but they can be ob- 

 tained one year sooner. 



There are many other kinds of budding. Some of 

 these will be found in American writings. None of 

 these other styles of budding, however, is of commer- 

 cial importance in this country. 



GRAFTING proper is the operation of inserting a twig 

 or a woody cion into a stock. The kinds of grafting are 

 very many. Few are described here. They may be clas- 

 sified in respect to the place or position of the cion on 

 the stock : root-grafting, or the insertion of the cion in 

 the root of the stock; crown-grafting, or the insertion 

 of the cion at the crown (surface of the ground) ; stem- 

 grafting, or the insertion of the cion in any part of the 

 main stem or trunk; top-grafting, or the insertion of 

 the cion in the top or branches of the plant. Grafting 

 may again be classified in respect to the maturity of the 

 cion: dormant wood grafting; and softwood or herba- 



