FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
all other buds, the tree produces flowers having all the fulness and beauty 
of the hybrid from whieh the bud was taken whilst it is supported by 
all the vigour of the stock. 
To perform this operation special budding-knives are made, of 
various patterns, but all having, in addition to some form of cutting 
blade, a thin ivory handle or ivory blade for opening the bark of the stock 
without injury. The stock and the bud must be prepared at the same 
time, and no delay must be permitted in carrying out the operation, or 
there will be no union. Having selected your stock and the tree that is 
to provide buds, prepare the former by making two clean cuts that shall 
together represent the letter T, through the bark only, the perpendicular 
cut to be about an inch long. Now select a firm bud in the axil of a 
leaf, cut through the leaf-stalk so as to leave only half an inch to 
remain as a handle, and cut round the bud a shield-shaped outline 
about £-inch broad and an inch long. Having thus marked it out by 
cutting cleanly through the bark, insert the edge of the knife under the 
lower end, and gently remove the shield-shaped flake with the bud in 
the centre. Hold this by the remains of the leaf-stalk, and remove any 
thin layer of woody tissue that may have been left attached to the bark, 
but be careful not to injure the base of the bud. Now with the ivoiy 
handle of your knife raise the cut bark of the stock where the two 
incisions meet, and insert the shield and bud. Press down the flaps of 
the stock upon it, and bind them closely in position by tying round 
firmly, but gently, with thin shreds of bast above and below the bud. 
In this last stage of the operation, care must be taken not to bruise or 
otherwise injure the bark; at the same time the binding must be 
sufficiently firm to prevent the access of air with the consequent drying 
up of the cut surfaces. It is also advisable for similar reasons to shield 
the parts from direct sunshine for a few days. When the growth of the 
bud has commenced, it is a sign that union of the parts has taken place, 
and the bast may then be removed. The most suitable time for budding 
is early morning or evening or in dull weather. 
Grafting is also a very important method by which to quickly 
obtain flower-bearing trees of a particular sort, without waiting for the 
ordinary processes of growth. Here again a Dog Rose, Manetti Briar, or 
other vigorous grower is selected as the stock, and a growing stem of a 
choice kind is amalgamated with it, the object to be aimed at the union 
of the inner bark of each. Without this union there can be no success. 
There are many methods of grafting, but it is impossible here to enter 
into details concerning them. The simplest forms are cleft and splice 
grafting, and the former is effected in the following manner. The stem 
