52 THE APPLE-TREE 



A boat-shaped or shield-shaped piece of bark is removed 

 with the bud. This piece, known technically as a "bud," 

 is inserted in an incision on the stock, so that it slips 

 underneath the bark and next the wood, with only the 

 bud itself showing in the slit ; it is then tied in place. 



The stock on which the bud is inserted has a two- 

 year root, and the root is entire. For this reason, budded 

 trees are usually very large and strong for their age when 

 compared with piece-root trees grown under similar con- 

 ditions of climate, tillage and soil. 



The bud does not grow the year it is inserted in the 

 stock; it is dormant until the following spring, as it 

 would have been had it remained on its parent branch; 

 but soon after it is inserted it attaches itself fast to the 

 stock: it is a biid implanted from one twig to another. 

 The following spring, if the operation is successful, the 

 bud "grows," sending up a strong shoot that makes the 

 trunk of the future tree. The top of the- stock is cut 

 away; in the. merchantable tree, the bend or place may 

 be seen where the stock and cion meet. 



As in the case of cion-grafting, we now have d top of a 

 known variety grovving on the root of an unknown kind. 

 The tree is sold at two or three years, counting the age 

 of the top ; and of course the tree is no' longer called a 

 seedling, and it produces its implanted variety as accu- 

 rately as does the cion-grafted tree. Equally good trees 

 are produced by both cion-grafting and bud-grafting. 



The apple-tree is now "propagated," and is ready for 

 the planting. Great hopes will be built on it, and the 

 tree will probably do its part to justify them. Nobody 

 knows how a bud from a Baldwin tree holds the memory 

 of a Baldwin or from a Winesap tree the memory of a 



