NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



249 



BUDDING. 



1. Stick of buds. 



2. Stock prepared for the bud. 



3. Shield or bud with the wood in. 



4. Bud with the wood taken out. 



5. Stock with the bud inserted. 



6. Stock with the bud tied in. 



7. Growing bud tied to the stock. 



Budding, though a simple process, that may be 

 readily learned and practised with ease and expedi- 

 tion, is wonderful in its operation. There are many 

 kinds of fruit that can be propagated rapidly only by 

 this process, and by grafting, which is similar. The 

 apple and pear are propagated very slowly and with 

 difficulty by layers, cuttings, and inarching, and 

 almost every variety will fail to produce its like 

 by seed. 



But budding affords so easj' and rapid a multipli- 

 cation of trees, that from one tree a thousand may 

 be produced in one year, and each one afford numer- 

 ous buds for a further multiplication. So that a 

 single tree, of excellent variety, may be scattered all 

 over the country, in a few years, or over the world, 

 so far as civilization, and, consequently, useful arts, 

 adapted to an improved condition of society, have 

 extended. 



Any one who would practise budding, and is not 

 acquainted with the operation, should learn from a 

 practitioner, if convenient ; but he may learn the art 

 by reading. In this way wo learned it, and our first 

 attempts were successful. 



The buds should be cut from shoots of the present 

 year's growth, that are becoming ripe or firm, as those 

 very tender or succulent are too soft, and more liable 

 to fail. There is often a great error in not preparing 

 the stick of buds immediately after cut, for the 

 moisture is constantly passing into the leaf; and 

 sometimes on a hot dry daj', the buds will be spoiled 

 in two hours, if the leaves remam on, the bud be- 

 coming dry and dead. 



In preparing the stock, it is better to make the 

 cross cut in a circular form, that the band may cross 

 it, rather than press into the cut. The bark on each 

 side of the perpendicular cut, at the top, should be 



raised with the handle of the budding-knife, by lift- 

 ing, not by forcing it down between the bark and 

 wood, which may disturb the cambrium, or new layer 

 of soft matter, called sliver, in some sections. 



Some yeai's past, it was a general practice to take 

 out the small slip of wood cut out with the bud, 

 which is represented by the inner circle, figure 3. 

 Of late years, most persons, and nearly all who have 

 recently commenced the business, leave the wood in. 

 Old practitioners say, in regard to this new mode, 

 that it is better to take out the wood in buds from 

 rather large, firm scions ; but when the scions are 

 small and succulent, it is better to leave the -wood in. 

 Beginners will generally succeed better by leaving 

 the wood in, as they are liable to injure the bud or 

 bark around it, in removing the wood. Many bud- 

 ders always leave the wood in, and succeed well, 

 and this mode is the more convenient ; and this 

 will give a preference for the American mode over 

 the slower English process. In taking out the wood, 

 if the root of the bud come out with it, which may 

 be known by a minute hole in the bud, at the point 

 marked in the centre of figure 4, that bud must be 

 rejected. This may be prevented by cleaving off the 

 wood with the thumb nail, to the root of the bud, 

 and then cut the wood off there, smooth with the 

 bark, with a thin, pointed knife. 



In cutting the bud from the scion, insert the knife 

 below the bud, and take a thin slip of wood, espe- 

 cially if it is allowed to remain in. After slipping in 

 the bud, cut off the bark at the cross cut, as in figure 

 5. Wind the band closely and neatly around every 

 part of the cut bark of the stock, barely leaving out 

 the bud, as appears in figure 6. As the stock grows, 

 so that the band binds too tightly, loosen the band 

 and retio, and let it remain till the bud is firmly 

 united with the stock. 



The time for budding varies with the season, weather, 

 age of trees, rapidity of growth, &c. We usually be- 

 gin with the plum the first of August, and then fol- 

 low with the chen-y, pear, quince, and apple, nearly 

 or quite through the month, and sometimes into 

 September. 



Sill 



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