182 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GAEDENING. 



Fig. 13.— Cut in Stock 

 and Bud prepared 

 for Insertion. 



spines till they are ahout to remove the buds from 

 the hranchlet. 



Arrived at the stocks (Figa. 11 and 12), with 

 our dressed branches, rub off the prickles from 

 two inches or so of the base of the shoots of these 

 (Fig. 1 1), and make a slit with 

 the budding - knife in the 

 centre of the upper side of the 

 shoot about an inch long, be- 

 ing careful not to penetrate 

 deeper than the bark. Most 

 operators also make a cross- 

 cut, which, with the longitu- 

 dinal one, forms the letter T 

 (Fig. 13). Hence the name of 

 T-budding. The only use of 

 the cross-out is to facilitate the raising of the bark. 

 It probably hinders rather than facilitates the 

 " taking " of the bud. Taking the branchlet with 

 its buds in the left hand, the lowest bud, with about 

 an inch in length of its wood and bark, is cut out 

 (Figs. 10, 13, 14). The form of cutting and the 

 thickness of section removed are of great practical 

 importance in the art of easy budding, though they 

 may be less vital to the promotion of the union. 

 In no case should the pith be reached or penetrated, 

 about two-thirds of the half-circumference of the 

 shoot being a good medium. Skilful 

 budders, by inserting the knife about 

 half or a quarter of an inch above the 

 bud, reach a maximum depth imme- 

 diately under the bud, and regain the 

 surface about half an inch beyond it, 

 in this way turning out pointed sections 

 like that given here (Fig. 14), almost 

 as if the knife were a cutting-mould. 



Those less skilful mostly try to imitate this form 

 by several cuttings and parings with a knife. 

 Unless, however, the section is so large or mis- 

 shapen as to be unfit to enter the slit, it had better 

 be left as it is, as the first cuts are always the 

 cleanest and the best. 



The operator has now the bud detached from the 

 branch, with its section of old wood adhering to 

 the bark (Fig. 14). The next step in ordinarj' Eose- 

 budding consists in the removal of the wood from 

 the bark. This is the crucial process in the whole 

 operation, and nothing but practice can enable it to 

 be done with safety and dexterity. The simplest 

 way of doing it is that of drawing it out from the 

 bottom. Grasping the bud firmlj' in the left hand, 

 take the knife in the right, and with its point bend 

 back the bark till the wood is laid hold of between 

 the point of the knife and the finger and thumb, and 

 carefully remove upwards from the base to the point. 

 Some remove it sidewaj-s, starting exactly opposite 



^5.14.— Bud 

 Detached 

 with Bark. 



the bud, but the first way is the best. If the base of 

 the bud remains in the section of bark, all is well ; 

 but if it projects beyond, into the wood, it will not 

 be likely to grow. 



Insertion into the Stock. — There are two 

 general methods of doing this, both of which are 

 perhaps about equally easy and successful. One 

 may be called the horizontal, and the other the 

 vertical mode of insertion. In the former the 

 bud is placed parallel with the slit, the thin edge 

 of the budding-knife being used to raise up one flap 

 at the side, and one edge of the section of bark in- 

 serted. The same process is repeated on the other 

 side, and the bud is thus securely inserted in the 

 stock, the bark of which overlaps and almost covers 

 its own bark. 



By the other method the bud itself takes a more 

 prominent part in its insertion. The bark is raised 

 in the same way on both sides as before, but just 

 as the knife raises the second side, the sharp poiat of 

 the base of the bud is inserted at the top of the sKt, 

 and follows the knife down to its base, the bud with 

 its section of bark, as it were, ploughing its way to 

 its home in the stock. When any diflSculties occur 

 they may, however, be obviated by a little help from 

 finger and thumb, or, in more obstinate cases, by 

 placing the back of the knife across the leaf-stalk, 

 and pressing the bud gently home. 



Buds with Section of Wood left under the 

 Bark. — The mode of inserting these does not differ 

 from others, only that they are more easily pushed 

 home, and with less risk of injury either to the bud 

 or the bark, the wood acting as a shield. This method 

 of budding is not, however, to be recommended, un- 

 less in cases of necessity, such as in wet and sunless 

 seasons, in which the wood or buds may not become 

 matured enough to permit the buds to stand alone, or 

 the wood to be separated from the bark without 

 ruining the latter. In budding with the wood left 

 in the bark, it may be accepted as an axiom, that the 

 less wood the sooner the bud will take, and the more 

 solid and permanent the union wiU prove. 



Position of Buds in the Slits. — The bud 

 should he near to the middle of the space, or a little 

 nearer to the top than the bottom. In all cases 

 where the cross-cut is used, the upper section of 

 bark should abut against it, and he cut so as to fit it 

 perfectly, as the close contact of the bark of bud 

 and stock at that point hastens the completion of the 

 union. So important has the action of this cross- 

 section been thought by some, that its position has 

 been reversed and made at the base instead of the 

 summit of the slit, in order to bring the full force of 



