BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 211 



CHAPTER X. 



BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 



Budding is the art of making a bud unite to the stem 

 or branch of another tree independently of its parent. It 

 is a cutting with a single eye inserted in another tree 

 called a stock, instead of in the ground. The operation 

 may be performed at any time after the buds of the new 

 wood are sufficiently matured. These must be perfectly 

 developed, which is seldom the case until the shoot has 

 temporarily ceased to lengthen, which is indicated by the 

 perfect formation of the terminal bud. If the buds are 

 desired very early, their maturity may be hastened by 

 pinching the tops of the shoots. 



The ordinary time for budding, north of Virginia, is 

 from the middle of July to the middle of September, and 

 the buds in general remain dormant until spring. Roses 

 are, however, budded earlier, and allowed to make some 

 growth. In the South, buds are inserted at any time 

 when the bark will rise, from June to October. Those 

 put in early will make a tine growth before autumn in 

 favorable seasons. A very necessary condition to success- 

 ful budding is that the bark rise freely from the stock, and 

 this must be in a thrifty, growing state, as when pushing 

 into new growth a day or two after a fine rain. If the 

 weather is too cold or the soil too dry, the bark will not 

 rise. Such trees as make most of their growth early in the 

 season must be budded before they cease to grow. Young 

 shoots, when the buds are in a proper state, are cut below 

 the lowest plump bud. If to be budded immediately, all 

 the leaf is cut off, except the leaf stem, which is left for 

 convenience of inserting, and in order to attract the sap 

 into the buds. If the buds are to be preserved any time, 



