18 



THE AVOCADO IX FLORIDA. 



Bud sticks (fig. 5) are cut from well-matured growth, especially such 

 as shows an abundance of active buds. (See tig. 5, a, «, a.) Wood 

 with many blind buds (see fig-. 5, b, 5, b) should be avoided and care 

 taken not to use such buds in propagating. Some are likely to occur 

 on any stick. 



Various methods of budding have been adopted and some form- of 

 grafting have been suggested. The common shield bud (fig. 2) seems 

 to be about as successful as any that have been tried, though the patch 

 bud is also used with a considerable decree of success. 



I.v .: 



Fig. 2.— Shield 

 bud cut out 

 preparatory 



to insertion. 



: ii;:- : 



Fig. 3.— Seed- 

 ling avocado 

 stock with 

 shield bud in- 

 serted. 



U i-i& 



Fig. 4.— Shield 

 bud wrapped 

 with waxed 

 cloth. 



b . 

 b_ 



b. 



b. 



CL. 



a 



.A 



A 

 -b 



Fig. 5. — Bud stick: a, a, etc., 

 • ' live ' ' buds in various stages 

 of development; b, b, etc., 

 blind buds which should not 

 be used. 



GRAFTING. 



Baltet G recommends four different methods of grafting: (1) Inarch- 

 ing. (2) veneer grafting. (3) cleft grafting, and (4) veneer grafting near 

 the root. In inarching and cleft grafting the top of the stock is fig 

 ured as having been cut away. In the other two methods the top of 

 the stock is left until the scion has started. Well-matured wood will 

 live for several weeks if kept in a sufficiently moist condition, and will 

 doubtless unite readily with the stock, but it is much more wasteful 

 of scion wood and a more tedious process than budding. 



aL'Art de Greffer. 7th ed., Paris, 1902, p. 226. 



