g6 GRAFT AGE. 



ber. In the southern states it usually begins in June. As 

 a rule, apples and pears are budded earlier in the season 

 than peaches are. This is due to the fact that peach stocks 

 are nearly always budded the same season the pits are 

 planted, and the operation must be de- 

 layed until the stocks are large enough to 

 be worked. 



Most fruit-stocks, especially apples and 

 pears, are not budded until two years after the 

 seeds are sown. The plants grow for the first 

 season in a seed-bed. The next spring they are 

 transplanted into nursery rows, and budded when 

 they become large enough, which is usually the same 

 year they are transplanted. The nurseryman reckons 

 the age of his stock from the time of transplanting, 

 and the age of the marketable tree from the time 

 when the buds or grafts begin to grow. Stocks are 

 sometimes "dressed" or trimmed before being set 

 into the nursery. This operation consists in cutting 

 off a fourth or third of the top, and the tap root. 

 This causes the roots to spread and induces a vig- 

 orous growth of top, because it reduces the number 

 of shoots ; and such stocks are more expeditiously 

 handled than long and untrimmed ones. A Manetti 

 rose stock, dressed and ready for planting, is shown 

 in Fig. 85. This stock was grown in France, and upon 

 being received in this country was trimmed as 

 it is now seen. It will now (in the spring) be 

 set in the nursery row, and it will be budded 

 near the surface of the ground in the summer. ^ Dressed rose 



Stocks should be at least three-eighths inch ■5''"^* (x!i)- 

 in diameter to be budded with ease. Just before the buds 

 are set, the leaves are removed from the base of the stock, 

 so that they will not interfere with the operation. They are 

 usually rubbed off with the hand for a space of five or six 

 inches above the ground. They should not be removed 

 more than two or three days in advance of budding, else 



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