I04 



GRAFTAGE. 



of budding over a longer season, thereby avoiding the rush 

 which often occurs at the regular budding time. It is also a 

 very useful means of top-working trees, for the buds start 

 the same season in which the buds are set, and a whole sea- 

 son is thereby saved as compared with the common summer 

 or fall budding. 



Budders usually carry a number of " sticks " with them 

 when they enter the nursery. These may be carried in the 

 pocket, or thrust into the boot-leg ; or some budders carry 

 four or five sticks in the hand. The budder follows a row 

 throughout its length, passing over those trees which are too 



small to work. It is a 

 common practice to 

 rest upon one knee 

 while budding, as 

 shown in Fig. 95, but 

 some prefer to use a 

 low stool. It is a 

 common practice, in 

 some nursery regions, 

 ^^ for budders to use a 

 low box with half of 

 the top covered to 

 serve as a seat, and the box is used for carrying buds, string, 

 knives and whetstone. The tying is usually done by a boy, 

 who should follow close behind the budder, in order that 

 the buds shall not dry out. An expert budder will set 

 from 1,000 to 3,000 buds a day, in good stock, and with a 

 boy (or two of them for the latter speed) to tie. Peach 

 stocks are more rapidly budded than most others, as the 

 bark is firm and slips easily, and some remarkable records 

 are made by skillful workmen. 



Budding is sometimes employed the same as top-grafting 

 for changing over the top of an old tree from one variety to 

 another. The buds cannot be easily inserted in very old 

 and stiff bark, but in all smooth and fresh bark they work 

 readily, even if the limb is three or four years old ; but the 



P5. Budder at work. 



