The Simple Art of Budding Stone Fruits-By p. T. Bames, 



HOW TO MULTIPLY YOUR FAVORITE VARIETIES OF PEACH, PLUM AND CHERRY— A PRACTICAL 

 GUIDF^FOR THE FARMER, FRUIT-GROWER, AND AMATEUR— AUGUST A GOOD TIME TO DO IT 



New 

 York 



HPHE advantage of doing one's own bud- 

 ■*- ding is the certainty of increasing 

 the favored variety or of propagating from 

 specially vigorous or unusually fruitful trees — 

 and there may be a world of difference 



Make a T-shaped cut in (he bark, slip in a bud and 

 tie it with raffia 



among individual trees of the same variety. 

 Late July and August is the best time for 

 budding the stone fruits. The season's 

 growth is mature and the bark peels easily 

 at this time. 



Budding can be done in the spring if it 

 is more convenient, but the bud-sticks must 

 be cut from the trees in March (or before 

 the buds commence to swell) and kept in a 

 cool place, where there is sufficient moisture 

 to prevent shrivelling, until April when the 

 sap begins to run in the stocks. 



These stocks are usually two-year-old 

 seedlings raised from pits or stones. The 

 ripe fruit is gathered and the stones, separated 

 from the pulp, are stratified in damp sand to 

 prevent them from drying. Germination 

 is hastened by putting them outdoors for a 

 time during the winter that they may become 

 frozen, thus cracking the shells. In the 

 spring the stones are separated from the. 

 sand and planted in the seedbed. 



The following spring transplant the seed- 

 lings into nursery rows three to four feet 

 apart, the seedlings being set about one foot 

 apart in the row. Before transplanting the 

 tops are cut back one-quarter to one-third, 

 and the tap root is also cut back to induce a 

 good growth of fibrous roots. The following 

 late summer or early fall they are budded. 



In nurseries where trees are budded by 

 the thousands the work is divided. First 

 a boy goes along the row removing the lower 

 branches and clearing the soil from about 

 the base of the stock. The budder follows 

 and inserts the bud. Yet another boy or 

 man follows along to do the tying. When 

 one is doing the work himself on a small 

 scale clean the stocks first and the budder 

 can tie his buds as he inserts them. 



The only tool necessary to do the work is 

 a budding knife. This is a specially con- 

 structed knife. The handle is of bone and 

 tapers off to a rounded tip which is used in 

 lifting the bark of the stock. The blade is 

 thinner than that of an ordinary pocket 

 knife and the point is rounded upward 

 instead of being pointed. 



To insert the bud two cuts are made in 

 the bark on the north-side of the stock, an 

 inch or two above the ground. A perpen- 

 dicular cut is made about an inch long and 

 across the top another so as to form a T. 

 These cuts go only to the wood, but it is 

 necessary that they should go that deep in 

 order that the growing point (cambium 

 layer) of both bud and stock come in contact 

 with one another for in that one detail lies 

 the whole essential fact in budding. Other- 

 wise a union will not be effected. 



With the corner of the blade or with the 



A bud ready for inserting in the stock 



bone tip of the handle the bark is lifted and 

 the little bud gently shoved into place. 



The budder carries the buds with him on 

 the "bud-stick," which is. simply a branch 

 of the desired variety containing a few buds. 

 Take from the tree you wish to perpetuate a 

 well-ripened branch of this year's growth, re- 



Use a regular budding Knife, because its tip is sharpened upward. Raffia is best for tying, as it does no( 

 girdle when wet. No other special tools are required 



. 24 



To make the tie, wrap a strand of raiiia twice below 

 and three times above the bud, drawing the ends 

 under the last turn to hold all firm 



move all the flower buds and also the end buds 

 because usually they are not well enough 

 developed. The leaves are also removed, 

 but about half an inch of the petiole is left 

 by which to handle the bud. Some budders 

 cut all the buds on the bud-stick before 

 beginning the work on the stocks, leaving 

 them hanging by a mere shred of bark. 

 But for home practice I would recom- 

 mend that the buds be not cut until all 

 is ready to insert them in the stock. Ex- 

 posure to the air of the cut portions of 

 the buds for more than two or three minutes 

 materially reduces the chances of the buds' 

 "taking." 



As usually cut, a bud consists of a shield- 

 shaped piece of the bark about one inch, con- 

 taining the bud in the axil of the leaf. The 

 thickest part is directly beneath the bud and 

 is one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch 

 thick. To cut the bud it is generally best 

 to begin from below, drawing the knife 

 up; but some budders prefer to cut down- 

 ward. 



After inserting the bud and seeing that it 

 is in good contact with the inner bark of 

 the stock, it is tied firmly by some soft material 

 such as raffia, or bast, or any soft cord, like 

 yarn or carpet warp. 



In two or three weeks the bud will have 

 "stuck" or "taken" and the tying must 

 be removed or it will choke the bud. The 

 easiest way is to draw a sharp knife over it 

 on the opposite side of the stock and allowing 

 the material to fall off at will. In the spring 

 of next year, as soon as the stock shows signs 

 of growth, cut it off to within five or six inches 

 of the bud. A couple of weeks later or when 

 the bud has made a growth one or two inches- 

 long, cut off this remaining portion of the 

 stock to half an inch above the bud. Make 

 a slanting cut away from the bud so that the 

 rain will neither stand on the cut portion 

 nor drain into the bud. Do not let any 

 suckers grow on the stock. 



