160 



FIEST STUDIES IN PLANT LIFE 



that is to receive the new bud. Do not go deeper than 

 the bark. Then at the top of that slit make a cross- 

 cut (fig. 118 b) ; then, with a thin narrow paper-cutter 

 or budding knife, raise the bark a Httle at each corner 



below the cross-cut. And 

 now we have to slice off 

 the new bud. Slice off 

 with a sharp knife as 

 shewn in the fig. 118 a, cut- 

 ting off altogether an inch 

 of bark and a very thin 

 piece of wood with it. 

 Then put the lower end 

 of the bud into the cross- 

 cut, and slide it down till 

 the bud is a little be- 

 low the cross-cut ; and 

 then cut off the end at 

 the cross-cut. Next take 

 a piece of soft, strong 

 string or tape, and wind it 

 around the bud from the bottom up. Wind the tape 

 with a steady, tight but not hard strain, until you 

 have covered the whole cut and left nothing in view 

 but the bud. In a few days, the bud should have 

 "taken." Recall the position of the leaf-sap tubes 

 in the stem, and you will see at once how the leaf- 

 sap runs into the new bud as if it belonged to the 

 stem. You will also be able to understand the method 

 of grafting which is shown in fig. 119. 



13. Grafting is done before the end of winter; in- 

 stead of a bud we use a shoot of wood of last summer's 

 growth. The branch that is to receive this shoot is 



Budding ; a, slicing oft the bud ; b, 



bark opened to receive the bud ; 



c, the bud ready for insertion ; d, the 



bud inserted and tied up. 



