PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 



175 



top and bottom out of a tin can and, forcing it halfway 

 into the ground, plant the seed in it. Otherwise we may 

 not have a single tree to show for a dozen seeds. 



Nothing in the whole garden is more graceful than 

 a seedling peach, and it grows faster than almost any 

 other tree. By the end of the season, with good treat- 

 ment, it should be about four feet tall and nearly an inch 

 in diameter at the ground. 



Budding. — Along in September, or earlier farther south, 

 we shall need to bud our tree, i.e., plant a bud of the desired 

 variety ; let us say this is the Royal George. Budding 

 is done by slipping a bud, with a little shield of its own 

 bark, under the bark of the stock. To do this we cut a 



Fig. 71. Budding a Peach Tree 



"T" in the bark, very carefully lift up the angles with 

 the thumb nail, a wooden blade, or the ivory blade of a 

 "budding knife," cut off our bud as shown in Fig. 71, 

 being careful not to include any wood in the slice except 



