40 THE CULTIVATION OF THE 



tree known to have been raised from a natural seed. 

 The Peach may also be propagated by grafting, but this 

 mode is seldom or never resorted to now. In England 

 the peach is generally budded on the plum, because it is 

 thus dwarfed, and grows better against walls, the only 

 way it can be raised out of doors there. On the penin- 

 sula we bud from June to September, or as long as the 

 sap flows freely ; but a vast majority of the trees are 

 budded in August, which is, undoubtedly, the best month, 

 all things considered. As before remarked, if the trees 

 are to be budded in June they need a little forcing to 

 give size. A man and two boys make a budding-team ; 

 the man buds, one boy ties after him, and the other boy 

 goes ahead and strips the trees of buds and leaves four 

 inches or more above the ground. The buds may be 

 obtained from nursery-stock or from bearing-orchards. 

 The former are thought to take best ; of course the 

 bud must be a leaf-bud and not a fruit-bud. The 

 buds are obtained from the very best twigs of 

 the season's growth, always selecting the best buds 

 on the twig, and using them only. Cut off all 

 leaves a short distance from the twig and keep the 

 stick with buds on it moist until needed for use. The 

 budder will cut them as he needs them, with a sharp 

 knife, taking an elliptical piece of the bark only, reach- 

 ing a quarter of an inch more or less above and below 

 the bud. Now, with a budding-knife, he cuts a T shaped 



