SEED-GROWING, GRAFTING AND BUDDING 27 



and insert the bud. Practise will give ease and 

 despatch to the operator. The bud must be held 

 firmly to the stock by a bandage wound about the 

 stock both above and below it, being careful to leave 

 the eye of the bud uncovered. Raffia, bast, candle- 

 wick or waxed cloth may be used for tying. In about 

 ten days, if the bud "takes," the bandage must be 

 removed, or the stock will be strangled and its growth 

 hindered. The work of budding is usually performed 

 in July or August in the North, and in June in the 

 South. When the bark peels easily and the weather is 

 dry and clear > is the ideal time. 



There are other methods of performing this bud- 

 ding operation, but the one described is in most 

 common use. Usually the buds are inserted in young 

 seedling trees at a point close to the ground. This 

 done, the operation is complete until the following 

 season, when all the trees in which the buds have 

 "taken " should have the top cut off just above the 

 bud. (See illustration on page 26.) 



BUDDING AND GRAFTING COMPARED. The 

 removal of the top forces the entire strength of the 

 root into the bud, and, since the root itself has not 

 been disturbed by transplanting, a more vigorous 

 growth usually results from the bud than from scions 

 in grafting. 



The one objection to budding is that it causes an 

 unsightly crook in the body of the tree, unless the 

 tree is afterward planted deep enough in the orchard 

 to cover the deformity. 



The best methods of propagating each kind of 

 fruit will be found in the special chapter relating to 

 that particular kind. 



