Book IV. 



PROPAGATION BY BUDDING. 



397 



of pears, plums, and cherries are collected in the end of January, or beginning of Fe- 

 bruary. They are kept at full length, sunk in dry earth, and out of the reach of frost 

 till wanted, which is sometimes from the middle of February to the middle of March. 

 Scions of apples are collected any time in February, and put on from the middle to the 

 end of March. In July grafting (2033.), the scions are used as gathered. 



2045. The materials used in grafting are, a strong pruning-knife for cutting off the 

 heads of the stocks previous to their preparation by the grafting-knife for the scion ; a 

 small saw for large stocks ; and a penknife for very small scions ; a chisel and mallet 

 for cleft-grafting ; bass-ribands as ligatures ; and grafting-clay. 



2046. Grafting-clay is prepared either from stiff yellow or blue clay, or from clayey 

 loam or brick-earth ; in either case, adding thereto about a fourth part of fresh horse- 

 dung, free from litter, and a portion of cut hay, mixing the whole well together, and 

 adding a little water ; then let the whole be well beaten with a stick upon a floor, or other 

 hard substance ; and as it becomes too dry ajDply more water, at every beating turning 

 it over ; and continuing beating it well at top till it becomes flat and soft. This process 

 must be repeated, more or less, according as the nature of the clay may require to render 

 it ductile, and yet not so tough as to be apt to crack in dry weather ; for instance;> it 

 should be several times beaten the first day ; and next morning repeat the beating, still 

 moistening it with water, and by thus repeating the beating several times every day for 

 two or three days, or every other day at least, for a week, it will be in proper order for 

 use ; observing that it should be prepared a week at least before it is used ; but if a month, 

 the better, keeping it moist. Some recommend salt to be mixed with the clay, and ethers 

 ashes or lime-rubbish, or drift-sand ; tlie object in these cases being to prevent its crack- 

 ing with the sun ; which, however, the horse-droppings, if well incorporated, will in 

 general fully prevent. 



2047. The grafUng-clay of the French and Dutch, Onguent de St. Fiacre (St. Fiacre 

 being the patron saint of gardening), is composed of half cow-dung, free from litter, and 

 half fresh loam, intimately incorporated. They prefer this to all others for exclud- 

 ing the external air from wounds of every description, and ridicule the idea of certain 

 complex compositions. Bosc (iV". C. d' Ag. &c. tom. v. art. Englumen) observes of a 

 noted English composition for healing wounds, that it is so " complicated and ridiculous 

 in the eyes of those who have any knowledge of chemistry or natural philosophy, that it is 

 a matter of astonishment how it could be proposed in our age." 



2048. Substitutes for grafting-clay. Abercrombie and various authors mention resinous 

 substitutes for clay, the details of which are given in the first edition of Miller's Diet. 

 These substitutes are recommended for small and delicate trees, as camellias, daphnes, &c. 

 and are composed of wax and pitch, pitch and tallow, tallow and oil, or a compound of 

 turpentine, bees'-wax, and rosin, at first melted together, and afterwards heated as wanted ; 

 care being taken not to apply it too hot. A coating laid on with a brush, to the depth of 

 a quarter of an inch, is said to be less liable to crack than clay ; and it is added, that when 

 the full heat of summer arrives, the composition melts away of its own accord. This last 

 circumstance, we must confess, appears a sufficient argument against its use, since its re- 

 moval must depend on the weather, and not on the state of the graft. We have seen its 

 use in Italy attended by such consequences. D. Powel, Esq. spreads it on shreds of brown 

 paper; wraps these round the graft, and over them some bass ties. (Hort. Trans, v. 282.) 



2049. The use of comjwsitionsfor covering grafts is threefold; 1st. To prevent the extra- 

 vasation of the sap from the wounds ; 2d. The too sudden drying of the wood ; and, od. 

 The introduction of rain-water in the wound or cleft. It is evident, therefore, that what- 

 ever sort of clay or coating is adopted, much will depend on its immediate application, 

 and instantaneous repair in future, wherever it cracks or falls off. In addition to 

 claying, some nurserymen cover the clay with a coating of moss, to preserve a moderate 

 degree of moisture and tenacity ; and others, in the case"^of dwarf-trees grafted close to 

 the ground, earth up the grafts for the same purpose. These practices suit particular 

 cases, but are not generally necessary. Earthing up is one of the best accompaniments 

 to claying, and should seldom be omitted when it can be adopted. 



SuBSECT. 5. Propagation by Budding. 

 ' 2050. Budding, or grafting by gems, consists, in ligneous plants, in taking an eye or bud 

 attached to a portion of the bark, of different sizes and forms, and generally called a shield, 

 and transporting it to a place in another, or a different ligneous vegetable. In herbaceous 

 vegetables the same operation may be performed, but with less success. It may also be 

 performed with buds of two or three years' standing, and on trees of considerable size, but 

 not generally so. The object in view in budding is almost always that of grafting, and 

 depends on the same principle ; all the difference between a bud and a scion being, that 

 a bud is a shoot, or scion, in embryo. In all other respects, budding is conducted on the 

 same principles as grafting. 



205 1 . A new application of budding has been made by Knight. It is that of transferring 



