PROPAGATION. 



Ill 



scion by the same knife, which is entered half an inch 

 above the bud, and drawn downward about one-third the 

 diameter .of the scion, and brought out an equal distance 

 below the bud; this makes the shield, or bud. The 

 authorities direct that the wood should be removed from 

 the shield before it is inserted ; this is a nice operation, 

 requiring some dexterity to avoid 

 injuring the base of the bud, 



which constitutes its connection 







with the medulla or pith within 

 the stick. The base of the bud 

 is represented by , figure 17. 

 Various appliances have been in- 

 vented to aid in this separation, 

 some use a piece of quill, others 

 a kind of gouge ; but if the bark 

 run freely on the scion, there will 

 be little difficulty in separating 

 the wood from the shield with the 

 fingers alone. All this may be 

 Fig. 18. AMERICAN BUD- avoided by adopting what is caU- 



DING. 6, THE BUD WITH . ., - , 



THE WOOD REMAINING. ed the American method ot bud- 

 ding, which consists in 'leaving the wood in the shield, 

 (fig. 18, b) that should be cut thinner, and is then inserted 

 beneath the bark without any difficulty, and may be made 

 to fit closely enough for all practical purposes. Like ev- 

 erything else American, this is a time-saving and labor- 

 saving plan, and therefore readily adopted by the prac- 

 tical nurseryman, who will insert two thousand in a 

 day. 



A division of labor is had generally, so far as the 



