BUDDING AND GRAFTING OLIVES 



401 



better trees come from small cuttings. If the truncheons are 

 bedded a few inches below the surface in moist, warm soil, shoots 

 will appear which can be worked up into small cuttings when they 

 reach the proper condition. 



BUDDING THE OLIVE 



Since the planting of a large area of Redding Picholines and 

 the fruit found to be that of a wild or poor seedling olive and not 

 a superior named variety, there has been a demand for working 

 over the trees into better varieties. More recently many of the 

 imported varieties have proved disappointing and a change to a 



Olive: Twig-Bud as cut. 



variety profitable in the region is imperative. The method of 

 budding commonly employed with fruit trees does not usually 

 yield a high percentage of success with the olive, and other ways 

 have been adopted with much better results. 



Budding may be performed at any time of the year when the 

 sap flows freely. If done late in the summer, the buds lie dormant 

 through the winter. Best results are obtained when the buds are 

 inserted early in the spring, as the operation can be performed 

 to a much better advantage, and the buds will grow to some height 

 before winter. When inserted in large orchard trees, or in limbs 

 of large trees, the shoots from the inserted buds are allowed to 

 grow until they have attained such a size as. will justify in the 

 removal of the entire top. 



Twig Budding. Twig budding is very successful. The bud 

 is cut deep into the wood, in order to give the bud as much bark 

 as possible. The leaves are partly cut off; then, with the sharp 

 point of the budding knife, the greater part of the wood inside 

 of the bud is removed, as shown in the picture. If part of the wood 



