244 



THE GAKDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



ing favourable, a union is soon effected. The 

 operation, to be done well, should be done quickly, 

 for the organizing tissue is very delicate, and 

 soon becomes vitiated by exposure to the air; 

 therefore the least possible delay should take place 

 between the raising of the bark and the appli- 

 cation of the bud. If exposed for some time to 

 the full influence of the air, the cambium would 

 become brown, and form a species of thin dead 

 bark; and, although this may serve to protect 

 fresh tissue that may be forming under it, yet it 

 cannot unite with living tissue placed in contact 

 with it. 



The bud, after having been inserted, must be 

 bound in with fine matting or worsted; and, in 

 doing this, care must be taken not to shift the 

 bud in any way that would cause friction, and 

 so injure the tissues below it. In tying, com- 

 mence below the end of the incision at b, and 

 pass the tie closely round as far as the bud. The 

 shield ought here to be pressed close, in order 

 that the base of the bud d may be close on the 

 alburnum. This should be done with the fingers, 

 without, however, injuring the bud; and whilst 

 the shield is thus kept particularly close to the 

 stock at that part, the tie should be brought 

 round tolerably close to the under side of the 

 bud, and the next turn must be wider, so as to 

 clear the point of the bud, and allow it to peep 

 out between the turns of the tie. Continue bind- 

 ing closely, and so that one of the turns may 

 embrace under it the cross incision, the top edges 

 of the raised bark, and the upper edge of the 

 shield, which, as already observed, should be close 

 to the sound bark of the stock at the cross cut a. 

 Make one or two turns more, and draw the end 

 of the tie under the last turn to fasten it. The 

 operation is now completed. 



In some cases it is advisable to shade the buds 

 from the direct rays of the sun. In the course of 

 two or three weeks, it will generally be seen 

 whether the buds have taken or not. If the por- 

 tion of the petiole drop off, it is a sign that the 

 bud has taken; if, on the contrary, it wither or 

 adhere, it is an indication that the bud is either 

 dead or dying. As soon as it is ascertained that 

 the buds have taken, the ties should be loosened, 

 and these indeed ought tobe frequently examined, 

 in order that they may be slackened and retied, 

 if they are becoming too tight, in which case 

 they would gall the budded part. 



In the following spring, say March or April, 

 the head of the stock must be cut back to 

 within a few inches of the bud. This stump 

 should also be cut back close to the bud, 

 after the latter has pushed a shoot having suf- 



ficient foliage to receive the flow of sap, but 

 previously the stump will serve as a support to 

 which the shoot from the bud can be secured. 

 In some cases the head of the stock may even be 

 cut off before winter, but this is not advisable if 

 the bud is so prominent that, if the winter should 

 prove mild, it would be liable to push too much 

 before spring, in conse- 

 quence of the bud being 

 the only point of attrac- 

 tion left for the movement 

 of the sap. When there 

 is no danger of this oc- 

 curring, the stock may be 

 headed back immediately 

 after the fall of the leaf, 

 and the consequences will 

 be a stronger shoot from 

 the bud in the following 

 season. 



Inverted T-budding. — In 

 this mode (fig. 308) the 

 transverse cut is made at b, and the longitu- 

 dinal one is commenced at a, in preference 

 | below a bud, and is continued down to the 

 transverse cut b. The bud, having been in- 

 serted, is cut across at c, to join exactly the 

 section b of the stock, and is afterwards treated 

 as in shield-budding. 



Different opinions are held as to the compara- 

 tive merits of the two modes of T-budding. In 

 the south of France the inverted one is pre- 

 ferred for the propagation of the Orange-tree, 



if^-.-:.-....:^ 



111 



1 





1 





1, ip 



Fig. 308.— Inverted 

 T-budding. 



Fig. 310. 



and is said to be more successful. Its success 

 appears to depend on whether the bud derives 

 its supply of nourishment from sap having an 

 ascending or a descending movement. Let fig. 

 309 represent T-budding, and fig. 310 inverted 

 T-budding. In the former a is the cross cut, 

 and b a point where the base of the bud is situ- 

 ated ; in the latter the corresponding parts are 



