BUD 



[HI] 



BUD 



the stocks, or subjects to be operated on. j the bottom upwards ; and an experienced 



Budding, as before observed, is performed 

 at various seasons; and in very early 

 budding, it is considered, in the majority 

 of cases, prudential, if not absolutely 

 necessary, to insert the whole of the 

 shield, or bud, with its own system of 

 wood attached. When the summer is 

 far advanced, however, and the buds are 

 become individually perfect, or nearly so, 

 in their organization, the case alters ; 

 and the less of intervening matter there 

 exists between the bud and its imme- 

 diate appurtenances of petiole and bark, 

 the better. 



Budding, then, in spring or early sum- 

 mer, is generally accompanied, it may be 

 presumed, by a copious current of sap. 

 Not so, however, late summer-budding 

 on all occasions ; for the season may 

 have been unusually warm and dry ; the 

 stock, or subject, may be short of sap, 

 or, in other words, be beset with a para- 

 lysed root-action : all these are impedi- 

 ments. A copious watering, the evening 

 previous to the process, will, however, 

 promote the free rising of the bark, on 

 which so much depends. In addition to 

 this, a cloudy day is preferable to a 

 sunny one. 



In former days the chief criterion of 

 the eligibility of a tree for the budding- 

 process was the cessation of growth, or 

 rather, of extension in point of length, in 

 the stock. Such generally happens in 

 fruit-trees such as the peach, apricot, 

 cherry, plum, &c., about the first or se- 

 cond week in August ; the period, of 

 course, being liable to be modified by 

 several circumstances, as heat, drought, 

 <fec. Instead, however, of thus waiting 

 until the eleventh hour, it is better to 

 make an earlier commencement; and 

 there is little occasion to delay after the 

 middle of July has passed, unless the 

 stocks, or scions, are subjects of late 

 growth and excessive luxuriance. 



The exact position of the bud being 

 determined, the incision is made across 

 the stock transversely, in length suffi- 

 cient to create an opening for the bud. 

 This slit forms the head of the incision, 

 which, when the next slit is made, wil] 

 ibrm the letter Tf. In making this slit, 

 or incision, a somewhat bold cut must 

 be made ; in fact, the point of the knife 

 must be made to reach the surface of the 

 wood of the stock. 



The perpendicular slit is made from 



budder gives a peculiar flirt, or .jerk, to 

 the knife when he approaches the head 

 of the T. This jerk at once rifts up the 

 bark better than any slower process could 

 do it ; and the haft of the budding-knife 

 is in a moment turned round, and the 

 point introduced ; and, by pressing it 

 close to the wood, right and left, the 

 bark is, as it were, ploughed up, or libe- 

 rated from the wood. 



All is now ready for the reception of 

 he bud, which is, indeed, by most good 

 judders, prepared first, as follows : The 

 cutting, or shoot, of the kind to be in- 

 serted, being wood of the current year's 

 rowth, is generally kept in a waterpot, 

 first cutting off all the leaves : care must, 

 however, be taken to leave most of the 

 petiole (leaf-stalk) to handle the bud by. 

 This, also, doubtless assists in forming a 

 speedy union. 



The bud, with its bark and a little of 

 the wood of the tree, is then cut off in 

 the form of a shield ; and the point of 

 the knife and thumb-nail of the right 

 hand, by a little nice handling, are made 

 to remove the portion of woody matter 

 from the centre. The bud is instantly 

 introduced beneath the bark in the T in- 

 cision of the stock, where, as before ob- 

 served, it is found in the same relation 

 to the stock, or stem, of its new parent a* 

 existed between it and the shoot whence 

 it sprang. This done, it is carefully and 

 closely, but not tightly, bound with the 

 bast. The operator generally beginning- 

 to bind at the lower end, gives an extra, 

 tug with the mat when he comes toler- 

 ably close to the lower end of the petiole. 

 This is an old practice, and not particu- 

 larly intelligible; the meaning, we sup- 

 pose if meaning it have being, that 

 the tightness of the ligature in that pre- 

 cise position impedes slightly the return- 

 ing sap, thereby concentrating it about 

 the bud. 



Some persons employ a grafting wax 

 to cover the parts where air may enter. 

 The following mixture will make a very 

 useful kind : Sealing-wax, one part ; 

 mutton fat, one part; white wax, one 

 part; honey, one-eighth part. The white 

 wax and fat are first melted, and then 

 the sealing-wax is to be added, gra- 

 dually, in small pieces, the mixture be- 

 ing kept constantly stirred ; lastly, the 

 honey must be put "in, just before taking 

 it off the fire. It should be poured into 



