26 



THE WALNUT — BUDDING. 



After the first and second years' growth the plants are of a suitable 

 size to bud or graft, or are left in the nursery as seedlings until large 

 enough to transplant into orchard form, the second or third year. 



(9) BUDDING THE WALNUT. 



There are several methods employed in budding the walnut, among 

 which the following, by the writer (published in 1889*), has proved 

 very successful: Trees are budded in July, August, and as late as Sep- 

 tember. The bud is cut (shown in Fig. 1) about li inches long. In 

 cutting the bud from the stick the cut is made deep into the wood, the 

 object being to give the bud as much bark as possible. The wood in 

 the bud is then partly removed; it is gouged out with the sharp point 



Fig. 1. The bud, 

 front view. 



Fig. 2. The bud, transverse 

 section. 



Fig. 3. The bud, 

 side view. 



of the budding-knife. This is done to allow the inner bark of the bud 

 to unite with the inner bark of the stock, which union would be pre- 

 vented if the wood in the bud should be allowed to remain. After the 

 wood has been partly removed (as shown in Fig. 2), the bud is inserted 

 into the slit made in the stock, the same as is done in the ordinary 

 method of budding practiced on fruit trees. The bud is then tied tight, 

 with heavy budding twine of at least 18-ply. Three weeks or so after- 

 ward-, if the bud has "taken," the twine is untied and tied oVer again; 

 this is done in order to prevent the twine from cutting into the bark. 

 This, however, is not required to be done if the trees are relaxing in 

 growth, or are of such age- as to have a bark thick enough to stand the 

 pressure without injury. On young and thrifty growing trees it is best 

 to loosen the twine at the third week, and it should be removed alto- 

 gether at the fifth or sixth week. The buds are then allowed to lie 

 , dormant until spring, when the stocks are cut back to force the bud to 

 ^start in the month of March or April, according to locality. As the 



* Annual Report of State Board of Horticulture, 1889, p. 137. 



