48 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1917 



Spencers are desired there are none better in their various 

 colors than: Elfrida Pearson, blush pink; Hercules, rich deep 

 pink; King Edward Spencer, glowing crimson; King White, 

 pure white self; Lilian, salmon pink; The President, orange 

 scarlet; Firey Cross, glowing fiery-red; Constance Hinton, 

 large black-seeded white; Margaret Atlee, rose-pink on cream; 

 Royal Purple, rich true purple self; Wedgwood, light blue self; 

 Orchid, the best lavender self; Barbara, rich salmon self; 

 Illuminator, salmon-cerise. 



Types for the Southern States, etc. 



TN FLORIDA, and locations having a 

 ■*■ similar climate, Sweet Peas should be 

 sown during the last week in September or 



quite early in October, and by using the Early 

 Flowering Spencers, flowers may be had from 

 Christmas until May or June. The summer- 

 flowering varieties sown at the same time, will 

 not flower until April. Therefore for all tropi- 

 cal or almost frostless locations the new early 

 or long-season varieties only should be used. 

 The new earlies are also the most dependable 

 type for California, where in some sections, 

 sown in September, they have been had in 

 flower by Thanksgiving. A few degrees of 



frost may check the plants and stop flowering,, 

 but they very quickly break away again, even 

 if the leading flowering shoots may be spoiled, 

 fresh growth is soon made to take the place of 

 the destroyed parts. 



This new type is now being grown almost 

 exclusively in Australia, where they bloom 

 during the cool winter months. In fact, by 

 using these varieties, Sweet Peas may now be 

 grown to perfection in many countries where 

 the older type was practically valueless. 



How Budding and Grafting are Done 



WM. H. WOLFF 



HERE IS A MEANS OF INCREASING SPECIALLY GOOD VARIETIES OR WORKING OVER POOR BEARERS WITH 



BUDS FROM FRUITFUL TREES 



THE simple art of budding and graft- 

 ing, one of the fundamentals of modern 

 horticulture, is seemingly a deep mys- 

 tery to many people. By it we re- 

 produce readily, easily and in any quantity 

 many varieties of fruit and ornamental trees 

 and plants which cannot be readily secured in 

 any other way. It is perfectly practical for 

 the home gardener to in this way increase the 

 plants that best suit his purpose. There are 



.. (|l l 



Fig. 1. The process of budding, which differs from graft- 

 ing only in the fact that a single bud, not a short twig is 

 used. (See text for references.) 



two general methods of propagation: i, 

 Growing from seed; and 2, Taking pieces from 

 the original seedling tree or plant and growing 

 these pieces. 



Budding and grafting is the practice of the 

 second method. Seed propagation is usually 

 easier and therefore cheaper and so is com- 

 monly used where only species or type char- 

 acters are sought. Hence we propagate from 

 seed the wild forest trees and plants, for ex- 

 ample, the American Elm, the Silver and Sugar 

 Maples, wild or species types of Roses, and 

 many of our shrubs. A thousand American 

 Elms grown from seed will show many in- 

 dividuals differing quite a little from the 

 others, yet they will come near enough alike for 

 all practical purposes. The same is true of the 

 other wild trees and plants in which the type 

 characters only are sought and considered. 



In the case of our modern varieties of fruits, 

 the case is altogether different. The first 

 chief reason for noticing, saving and culti- 

 vating these was because they had varied so 

 much from the general type and were so dis- 

 tinctly different from the general run of their 

 seedling fellows; and these (the product of 

 great variations from the type) possess thus 

 inherent tendencies to vary. There are ten 

 main characters of tree and fruit in which we 



naturally would look for and notice variation, 

 these are: For the tree: hardiness, vigor, 

 productiveness, susceptibility to disease. For 

 the fruit, size, form, color, quality (including 

 flavor and texture, of the flesh), season of 

 ripening, uniformity of crop. So, given a 

 tendency to vary, and so many characters 

 wherein a slight variation would make a 

 large and noticeable difference, and we have 

 the explanation of why we cannot resort to 

 seed for the propagation of our cultivated 

 varieties. 



When seeds will not reproduce with cer- 

 tainty the qualities of the individual we de- 

 sire to propagate, the only way is to take 

 pieces of the original tree or plant and make 

 these pieces grow, on their own roots if pos- 

 sible, or if these pieces do not have own roots 

 or cannot make roots for themselves, we must 

 provide other roots for them. Many plants 

 can be so divided up that each part has a piece 

 of its own root to start with, as for instance a 

 Rhubarb plant, Gooseberry, or Spirea bush, 

 about which the soil has been banked for a 

 season. Some Roses and Grapes may also be 

 propagated in this way. Other plants, such as 

 Willows, Poplars, Grapes, Currants, many 

 shrubs and soft wooded plants generally have 

 the ability to make roots readily themselves 

 from stem cuttings; and where this is the case 

 the use of cuttings is the accepted method of 

 propagation. 



Apple, peach, pear, plum, and cherry 

 trees cannot readily be grown from stem cut- 

 tings, or cuttings from terminal growth. We 

 therefore provide other roots on which to 

 grow the pieces or cuttings of the desired 

 variety. This is grafting, which includes 

 budding, or bud grafting. 



Budding is to be Done Now 



DRACTICALLY all the stone fruits, in- 

 -*■ eluding peach, plum, and cherry trees are 

 propagated by budding; about one half of the 

 apple and nearly all the pear trees offered by 

 the nurserymen are propagated in this way 

 while the balance is obtained through root 

 grafting. 



Budding is distinctly a summer process and 

 in the North is done during the months of July, 

 August, and September. This is the time when 

 the buds for insertion are fully enough de- 

 veloped and when the trees are making a 

 vigorous growth so that the bark separates 

 readily from the woody tissue below it. 

 Terminal shoots from the current season's 

 growth of the varieties desired are taken and 

 with a sharp, thin bladed knife, the leaves are 

 trimmed off, leaving back of each bud about 

 one quarter inch of the leaf stem. This 



serves as a handle for the bud later when it is 

 being inserted. These "bud sticks," after 

 being collected and prepared in this way, may 

 be kept a short time if packed in damp ma- 

 terial, such as sphagnum moss. 



With our outfit now ready including bud 

 sticks, sharp knife and some pieces of string or 

 raffia cut into lengths of 18 or 24 inches, we 

 proceed to the place where some little seedling 

 trees are growing and which are to supply the 

 necessary roots. Taking the first tree to be 

 budded a T shaped cut is made, usually on the 

 west or northwest side of the stem and about 

 two or three inches up from the ground. The 

 perpendicular cut is made first and then with 

 a slight rocking motion of the knife blade, the 

 horizontal cut is made, the flaps of the bark 

 being at the same time thrown slightly open, 

 Fig. i-A. The bud with its bark and bit of 

 leaf stem and without any woody tissue is now 

 cut and pulled from the bud stick, Fig. i-B, 

 and slipped into the incision under the bark 

 flaps on the seedling tree, Fig. i-D. If the 

 trees are in the right condition there will never 

 be any trouble in getting the buds to slip in 

 readily and easily. If the bark has to be 

 pried up in order to get the buds in, the seed- 

 ling trees are not in the best condition to bud 

 and a large percentage of failures may be ex- 

 pected. The under-side of the bud rests on 

 the cambium, or 

 slippery layer, of 

 the stock and it is 

 from this that new 

 cellular tissue is de- 

 veloped, which heals 

 the wound and 

 unites the bud to 

 the new tree on 

 which it is to grow. 



After the bud has 

 been placed in po- 

 sition, the flaps of 

 the T cut are bound 

 down tightly over it 

 with a piece of string 

 or raffia, so making 

 practically an air- 

 tight joint, Fig. i-E. 

 In about two or 

 three weeks the 

 union ordinarily will 

 be complete and the string or raffia must then 

 be cut to allow for the growth expansion of the 

 stem. The following spring the seedling stem 

 is cut off about an inch above the variety bud 

 and as the season advances this alone is al- 

 lowed to grow, all other seedling suckers — i. e. 

 those that start below the variety bud — being 

 kept broken off. 



Fig. 2. Root grafting, a 

 method commonly used for 

 certain fruits and ornamental 

 trees. A, Scion. B, Stock, a 

 seedling topped and trimmed. 

 C, Scion and stock cut for 

 whip and tongue graft. D, 

 graft made and tied 



