58 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



botanical structure. A Quince stock will produce Quince suckers, and 

 the Pear grafted on it will produce only the leaves, flowers, and fruits 

 of the Pear. In the same way, a Peach grafted on an Almond or a 

 Plum will remain a Peach. While it is true generally that neither 

 stock nor scion is affected by the other structurally, there is one 

 remarkable exception afforded by Laburnum Adami, known as a graft- 

 hybrid, and described at p. 327. 



4. Propagation by Budding 



The process of propagation by budding consists in detaching a 

 ripened bud from one plant and inserting it beneath the bark in the 

 stem of another closely related. It is confined almost entirely to woody 

 Dicotyledons, for the same reasons as Grafting, viz. because they have 

 a cambium-layer (see p. 30), and is usually performed about the end 

 of May or June to the end of July, when the sap is in rapid circulation, 

 and the bark readily separates from the wood. Almost all Boses, 

 Stone-fruit Trees, as well as many ornamental trees, like Maples &c., 

 are budded, and the practice is now being extended to many other trees 

 and shrubs. 



Budding may be done in various ways, but the method usually 

 practised is known as shield or T-budding. 



The bark of the stock should have a cut made lengthways and cross- 

 ways like the letter T as shown in the sketch fig. 126. A bud is then 

 carefully selected (in most cases care should be taken to select a leaf- 



Eia. 126. 



FIG. 127. 



FIG. 128. 



FIG. 129. 



bud, not a flower-bud) by passing the knife behind the bud so as to 

 secure a piece of bark or a ' shield ' about \ inch long above and below 

 it as shown in fig. 127, but without any wood behind. By allovnng 

 a leaf-stalk to remain beneath the bud, a handle is supplied, which 

 enables one to easily insert the bud between the Ups of the T-cut in 

 the bark when gently pressed open by the thin bone handle of the 

 budding-knife. The bud must then be carefully and firmly — but not 

 tightly — tied with woollen thread or soft matting, gently bringing 

 the edges of the cut together. In a month or so the bud will have 

 begun to swell, and the thread or matting if not already burst or 



