MODES OF GRAFTING. 79 



buds are to be taken fresh from the parent plant or tree as they 

 are required for use ; but as this cannot always be done, espe- 

 cially when buds are sent from a. distance, care must be taken 

 to keep them as fresh as possible during the journey and until 

 they can be used. The best packing material is moist not 

 wet Sphagnum moss, which should be wrapped around the 

 shoots directly they are cut, covering this again with thin sheet 

 india-rubber, or with a sheet of brown paper. I have received 

 thanks to many lovers of the Rose buds packed in this way 

 which have travelled hundreds of miles, and found them equal 

 to fresh-cut buds. The buds must be cut with a keen blade, 

 and the cut should be always made in the direction in which 

 the shoot grows in this as in all other modes of graffage and 

 pruning. Cut them as clean as possible just beneath the bark, 

 with the thinnest shaving of the young w r ood. The shoot 

 which is to serve as a stock receives a cross or T-shaped cut, 

 and great care must be taken not to make the top or cross too 

 deep, or the chances are that the top of the shoot will be blown 

 off, and this endangers the safety of the bud. Some practi- 

 tioners make no cross cut, but only a longitudinal one, and 

 this answers perfectly, except that the bud is not so easily and 

 quickly inserted as when the top cut is made. Budding is 

 generally practised in May and June, and is most successful in 

 warm, calm weather, with occasional showers. Deciduous 

 plants, as Roses and fruit-trees, may have the blade of the leaf 

 severed from the bud when the operation is performed out of 

 doors, as if left on the petiole it is almost sure to " flag," or droop 

 and fade ; but in budding under glass, where a humid atmo- 

 sphere can readily be maintained, the leaf, or at least half of 

 it, may be left with advantage, as when it does not flag it 

 helps to infuse life into the bud until the junction is effected 

 with the stock, just as leaves on a cutting facilitate its rooting 

 by causing it to callus sooner than if they were removed. 

 In budding evergreens as Hollies, &c. leave the leaf entire. 

 There is always greater chances of success if the bark of the 

 stock rises cleanly and freely when the ivory end of the 

 budding-knife is inserted to make room for the bud. After 

 the bud is inserted, it has to be bound in its place with 

 either worsted, thick soft cotton, or bast, and does not require 

 a coat of mastic as a rule, although where the buds are but few, 

 and time and labour no object, it certainly contributes as much 

 to the success of a bud-graft as to that of any other kind. A 

 considerable amount of practice is requisite to enable one to 

 tie buds in well. M. Baltet recommends them to be tied by 

 simply winding cotton or other material round above and 



