PROPAGATION. 



255 



of opinion exists amongst different authorities as to 

 the respective merits attending the two forms of 

 T -budding; but there does not seem to be any- 

 decided superiority of one over the other, though 

 the common form is almost universally adopted. 

 After a period of two or three weeks the buds that 

 have been inserted should be examined, and if their 

 attached petioles have fallen away it is a sign that 

 they have taken. The ligatures should now be 

 undone and re-tied more loosely to allow the natural 

 expansion of the growing parts. The necessity of 

 this will be all the greater if vegetation is in an 

 active, vigorous state, in which case the buds will 

 make considerable progress the same season. 



American Shield-budding. — This is only a 

 slightly modified form of the preceding, in which the 

 wood is not removed from the bud, but merely 

 pared thin, and inserted in the usual way. It derives 

 its name evidently from the fact of its being exten- 

 sively employed in America for the purpose of 

 budding stone fruits, such as Plums and Cherries, 

 that mature their wood early, and consequently 

 require to be budded in the dry hot season. This 

 method, however, is not confined to America, but 

 was practised many years ago by Andrew Knight in 

 budding Peach-trees with buds that had been sent 

 some considerable distance, and had become so far 

 desiccated that it was impossible to remove the 

 wood. Besides this, its use is extended to the 

 budding of fruit - trees and 

 Roses, both in spring and also 

 in summer, when the bark 

 adheres too firmly to the 

 wood, or is not inclined to 

 " run," as budders term it. 



Square Shield - bud - 

 ding is conveniently prac- 

 tised in special cases where the 

 subjects to be operated upon 

 have thick bark. A square 

 piece of bark, c, is removed 

 from the stock, while a similar 

 piece, a, is taken from the tree 

 or branch it is intended to 

 propagate, and made to fit the 

 former exactly, so that the 

 whole of the cambium laid 

 bare will be completely co- 

 vered. This is more than 

 could have been executed by inserting the shield 

 below the bark of the stock, even if both barks had 

 been comparatively thin. All that is further neces- 

 sary is to cover the shield with something adhesive 

 to keep out the air or wet, but leave the bud exposed. 



Fig. 23 —Square Shield- 

 budding. 



Other methods of budding thick-barked trees are 

 known as Flute-budding and Ring-budding. In 

 the former the stock is headed down, and a cylinder 

 of bark removed from the top. Another cylinder of w 

 exactly the same dimensions is taken from the tree " 

 to be propagated, and slipped on to the wood laid 

 bare on the stock. Bind over the base of the 

 cylinder where it touches the sound bark, and apply 

 some grafting-wax, or clay, to render it air-tight. 

 In the case of Ring-budding make two transverse 

 and parallel incisions through the bark all round the 

 stem or branch to be operated upon, with a longi- 

 tudinal one. Remove this ring, and take a similar 

 one with buds on it from another tree of the same 

 thickness, or preferably thicker ; and in applying it 

 to the stock, after bringing it round tightly, the 

 overlapping end may be cut away. The whole is 

 then bound up, leaving the buds exposed, and the 

 operation is complete. 



Grafting - elay and Wax. — Grafting-clay 

 is made in various proportions of two-thirds to 

 one-half clay, and the remainder cow-dung — minus 

 the litter — with a fair admixture of finely-chopped 

 hay. The cow-dung serves to retain the moisture, 

 while the hay binds the whole together and pre- 

 vents any cracking. All this should be thoroughly 

 mixed and pounded together some time previous to 

 use, then stored in some convenient place and 

 covered, or occasionally supplied with water to pre- 

 serve it in a moist, workable condition till required. 



Grafting-wax, the use of which is necessitated 

 when operating upon small or valuable plants, espe- 

 cially indoors, is variously compounded of pitch, 

 resin, bees- wax, hog's-lard, and occasionally other 

 ingredients. The sole purpose of this grafting- wax, 

 as in the case of grafting-clay, is to protect the cut 

 surfaces of the subjects under operation from the 

 vitiating influences of the atmosphere, whether of 

 dryness or moisture. Therefore, so long as this is 

 effected by non-injurious materials, it matters little 

 about the exact proportions of the mixture. Hog's- 

 lard, bees-wax, and resin are the three most im- 

 portant ingredients of the mixture, and may be 

 compounded in proportions entirely at the discretion 

 of the operator. 



The Apple. — Although it can be successfully 

 budded, the usual mode of propagating the Apple is 

 by grafting. The stocks are headed down in 

 January, or about that time, when the buds are 

 quite dormant, provided the frost is not so severe as 

 to crack the freshly-cut wood. The scions should 

 be cut off at the same time, and laid thinly in a 

 trench behind a north wall. It is well to attend 

 to this seemingly trifling matter, as otherwise the 



