PROPAGATION. 119 



of which may have been received too late for grafting, or 

 when it is desirable to multiply them as much as possible, 

 by making every bud grow. When the operation is to 

 be performed in the spring, the scions must be kept back, 

 by placing them in the ice-house until the stocks are in 

 full leaf, when the bark will peel readily, and the biids 

 may be inserted \vith a pretty fair prospect of succos''; of 

 course, the American method must be used in this case, 

 as the wood and bark of the dormant scion will not sep- 

 arate. 



The stocks should be cut down as early in the spring as 

 the buds begin to swell, with a sharp knife, applied just 

 above the bud, and on the same side ; the whole upper 

 portion of the stock must be removed by a clean cut ; this 

 is better tiian to leave a stump of three or four inches, as 

 is often recommended, as a support to which to tie up 

 the buds in their tender growth. All shoots from the 

 stock should be rubbed out while young ; this may need 

 repeating a second time. 



If the stocks were strong, the buds will make handsome 

 sturdy trees the first season ; the branched form may be 

 assisted by pinching the points when a few inches high, as 

 recommended with the grafts. Two year old stocks 

 should make pretty trees, at one year old from the bud. 



