PROPAGATION BY BUDDING AND GRAFTING 123 



peach stocks are budded the same season the pits are planted, 

 and the operation must be delayed until the stocks are large 

 enough to be worked. 



Most fruit-stocks, particularly apples and pears, are not 

 budded until two years after the seeds are sown. The plants 

 grow for the first season in a seed-bed. The 

 next spring they are transplanted into nurs- 

 ery rows, and budded when they become 

 large enough, which is usually the same year 

 they are transplanted. The nurseryman reckons 

 the age of his stock from the time of transplant- 

 ing, and the age of the marketable tree from the time 

 when the buds or grafts begin to grow. 



Stocks are sometimes "dressed" or trimmed before 

 set in the nursery. This operation consists in cut- 

 ting off a fourth or third of the top, and the tap-root. 

 This causes the roots to spread and induces a vigorous 

 growth of top ; and such stocks are more expeditiously 

 handled than long and untrimmed ones. A Manetti 

 rose stock, dressed and ready for planting, is shown in 

 Fig. 132. This stock was grown in France, and on 

 being received in this country was trimmed as it is now 

 seen. It will now (in the spring) be set in the nurs- 

 ery row, and it will be budded near the surface of the 

 ground in summer. 



Stocks should be at least three-eighths inch 

 in diameter to be budded with ease. Just be- 

 fore the buds are set, the leaves are removed FlGL 132- Dressed 



rose stock (xi). 



trom the base ot the stock, so that they will not 

 interfere with the operation. They are usually rubbed off with 

 the hand for a space of five or six inches above the ground. 

 They should not be removed more than two or three days in 

 advance of budding, else the growth of the parts will be checked 

 and the bark will "set." Any branches which might impede 



