440 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Budding' is almost exclusively adopted for working in desirable 

 varieties. The best time to bud is about the time the new growth 

 starts on the seedling in the spring, though some practice budding 

 in midsummer and fall. Good, well-matured buds only should be 

 used; those from both base and tip of the shoots are frequently 

 defective. The method of budding described in Chapter IX is that 

 usually employed in budding citrus trees, and the rules for loosen- 

 ing the ligature, etc., are similar. Midsummer buds are apt to have 

 soft growth at the coming of cold weather; fall buds remain dor- 

 mant until spring; spring buds start to grow almost immediately, 

 and have the benefit of the whole summer season for growth and 

 maturing of wood. 



After the bud has started out well, the top of the stock should 

 be removed at a short distance above the bud, and suckers on the 

 old stock should be continually looked for and removed. The tender 

 shoot of the bud may be protected by tying to the stub, and when 

 th growth of the bud has become strong enough to support itself, 

 the old stock is smoothly sawn away above the bud and the wound 

 covered with liquid grafting wax, or paint. 



The care of budded trees in nursery is similar to that of the seed- 

 lings of the previous year. If too great a tendency to branch low 

 down is observed, the tips of the lower shoots should be pinched, 

 but it is not desirable to underprune much ; the retention of the 

 lower branches thickens the stem. Sometimes a very rank growth 

 on the bud will need a stake to strengthen it or to protect it from 

 blowing out. The intrusion of gophers and other vermin should be 

 resolutely and persistently guarded against. 



Working over Old Trees. Old orange trees can be transformed 

 into improved varieties either by budding or by grafting, as de- 

 scribed at the close of Chapter IX, though re-working by grafting 

 has been almost entirely superseded by budding. The common way 

 to bud over an old tree is to cut back part of the branches and 

 force out new shoots, the best of which are selected for budding 

 and the others removed. Sometimes only a part of the tree is 

 removed at first, and when the new buds have grown out on that, 

 the! other part is similarly treated. Others remove the whole top 

 except a single low branch to maintain sap circulation until after 

 the new buds start. 



Recently the practice of budding into old bark has been widely 

 adopted as the quickest way to secure a new tree. As with working 

 into old bark in other trees, it is necessary to take an older bud and 

 a larger, thicker shield of bark behind it, than when budding into 

 younger stock. Some remove the wood from the back of the shield, 

 but generally it is not done. The following is an outline of practice 

 approved by,lie . Redlands. Horticu.UuraJL.CLub..:_ 



