MANUAL OF GENEEAL AGRICULTURE. 



69 



59. BUDDING. 



Material: Budding knife, but a medium or a large 

 sized pocket knife will do if sharp, and raffia. 



There are numerous styles of budding, but 

 only the one in most common use will be de- 

 scribed. Budding is one of the most econom- 

 ical forms of artificial reproduction and 

 each year witnesses its more general use. It 

 is economical in the amount of wood used 

 from which to take buds. In this method a 

 single bud does the work of three or more 

 upon the scion used in grafting. The opera- 

 tion of budding is simple and can be done 

 with great speed by expert budders. Bud- 

 ding may be done from May to September. 

 The usual plan is for a man to set the bud 

 and a boy follow closely and do the tying. 



(a) The Bud. Obtain buds from wood 

 of the present season's growth. The work 

 of budding is done during the season of ac- 

 tive growth. Prepare the bud stick so that 

 the petiole or stem of each leaf is left at- 

 tached to serve as a handle to aid in pushing 

 the bud home when inserting it beneath the 

 bark of the stock. This is what is usually 

 called a shield bud and should be cut so that 

 a small portion of the woody tissue of the 

 branch is removed with the bud. A bud stick 

 is shown in figure 8. The operation of cut- 

 ting the bud is illustrated in figure 9. The 

 stock for budding should be at least as thick 

 as an ordinary lead pencil. 



(b) The Operation. The height at which 

 buds are inserted varies with the operator. 

 In general the nearer the ground the better. 

 Make the cut for the insertion of the bud in 

 the shape of the letter T (fig. 10, a). Usually 

 the cross cut is made not quite at right 

 angles with the body of the tree, and the 



