12 THE PROPAGATION OF FBUIT TREES. 



in M'ovem'ber, it is 'better to wait imtil early ia AprU, after the 

 shoots have had an opportunity to recover from the severe freez- 

 ing. They should never he cut from the tree when they are 

 frozen. When cut, they should he packed in a hox with damp 

 moss, or sawdust placed in the hottom of the hox and oyer them 

 after they are put in. There should he enough moss or sawdust 

 to prevent the scions from drying out or shrivelling. They 

 should then he stored in the cellar, where they will he kept cool 

 and damp, and free from frost. If there he plenty of moss oi 

 sawdust the scions will he preserved quite fresh without any fur- 

 ther attention ; and if, when taken out for use, they seem to he 

 mouldy, there need he no cause for apprehension, if, on wiping it 

 off, the hark looks bright and fresh. Experience has taught us that 

 this mould does not injure scions. There is danger, however, 

 of keeping scions too wet. The material in which they are 

 packed should be damp only, not filled with water. A scion that 

 has been soaked wHL not grow. They have been known to faU 

 wholly, after standing for a few weeks with the butt-end in shal- 

 low water. The thihg to be aimed at, is to keep the grafts as 

 near as possible in the same condition as when first cut. In 

 using the scions, reject the portion at the butt, as far as the buds 

 seem small and imperfectly developed, and likewise the tip, as 

 far as the wood seems soft and spongy. 



Budding, or as it is sometimes called, inoculation, is the other 

 method by which any given variety of fruit is perpetuated and 

 multiplied, and in its effects and principles of operation is only 

 another mode of grafting. In both cases, a bud of the variety 

 wg desire to.propagate is brought into a living union with another 

 root, and made to form the top and branches and fruit-producing 

 portion of the tree. In grafting, we use a branch with several 

 buds and considerable wood ; but in budding we use only a sin- 

 gle bud, with a very small portion of bark, and less wood. 



There are some advantages in budding, as compared with 

 grafting, when the stocks are small, as is the case in nurserymen's 

 operations ; but when the stocks have already become trees, as is 

 usually the case with the farmer and amateur, grafting is the 



