November, 1913 



The Art of Budding. 



Budding is the operation bv 

 which a bud, with a portion of 

 bark, is taken from a tree or jilant 

 and inserted beneath the bark of 

 another tree or stock, as in the 

 case of younfj trees, c'r beneath 

 the bark of the same tree. This 

 is at times necessary, as some 

 parts of the tree mav fail to pro- 

 duce branches. The main princi- 

 ple of buddinor is the same as in 

 gxaftinaf. The union is effected 

 by means of the orjranisable mat- 

 ter, the cambium, which is found 

 between the alburnum and the in- 

 ner bark ; and the success of the 

 operation depends upon the abim- 

 dance of that ntatter beinsj such 

 as to permit of the bark being 

 easifv lifted from the wood. When 

 both the stock and the free from 

 which the bud is taken are in that 

 condition, which is usually during 

 the earlier pa,rt of summer, and 

 often continues till the middle or 

 end of the March following, espe- 

 cially if there is a moist summer, 

 the union is most readily effected. 

 There are times when the flow of 

 sap is checked, and the bark -will 

 not lift readily (this will be no- 

 ticed during a <3ry spell). At such 

 times buddine should not be at- 

 tempted. Still, moist, warm wea- 

 ther is the most suitable ; very 

 drv, hot weather with a fiery 

 sun is likely to kill the buds, and 

 during such weather budding 

 should not be attempted. Irriga- 

 tion, with the water at a fairly 

 even tem.perature, will assist the 

 union very materially in a drv 

 season. l?ainv weather is injuri- 

 ous, for when water gets into the 

 wound it decompo!?es the sap, and 

 organisation cannot proceed so as 

 to form a union. 



There are several modes of per- 

 forming the operation, b|it shield 

 or.-T budding is the method <iener- 

 allv adopted, it having proved to 

 be the most succes>;ful. When oper- 

 ating, the shoot containing the 

 buds to be used .should be taken 

 off, and the heels placed in p little 

 clean water, the fresher the better, 

 till the stocks are Tcady for work- 

 ing. A cut the shape of a T is 

 made in the stock large enough to 

 admit the bud. A bud is then 

 taken out of the shoot, by insert- 

 inir the knife aliout half an inch 

 above the bud. The cut should 

 be made so that the bud is in the 

 centre of the shield, the shield be- 



ing from a quarter to half an inch 

 wide at the centre, sloping off to 

 a point at the lowest end. The 

 petiole or leaf stalk should be cut 

 through at half its length, and the 

 bud inserted by holding the petiole 

 between the thumb and finger, 

 and inserting the lowest point of 

 the bud at the top of the T, push- 

 ing gently the while till the whole 

 of the bud and shield is under the 

 bark of the stock. The "petiole" 

 is then " righted " till it is in the 

 centre of the T, and the binding is 

 then applied, using a soft twine or 

 rafha, and not tied too tightly, 

 for it is essential that a free cir- 

 culation of sap should continue. In 

 taking the- wood out of the shield, 

 or, as some call it, the " core," is 

 not removed. Should this come 

 away, leaving a hole at the base 

 of the bud, it will not succeed, 

 and a new one must be ' chosen. 

 The base of the bud is of a green- 

 ish colour, and of a pulpy nature, 

 and is the commencement of what 

 is known as the medullary .sheath, 

 the u]3per part of which is the eve 

 or growing point of the bud. If 

 the wood comes out clean, with 

 the exce])tion of the sribstances 

 just mentioned, the bud is ready 

 for insertion. The operation, to 

 be done successfully, should be 

 done q-uickly, for the organising 

 tissue is very delicate, and soon 

 becomes \-itiated or .spoilt if ex- 

 po.sed to the action of the ailr for 

 any length of time. This will be 

 seen if the operator will take the 

 trouble to notice the effect of ex- 

 posing: the wotmd to the air. The 

 cambium will become quite brown, 

 and in a short time a thin laver 

 of bark will be formed under it, 

 vet it can never unite with living 

 tissue placed in contact with it. 

 In the course of two or three 

 weeks it will be seen whether the 

 buds have taken. If the netiole on 

 being touched drops off readilv, it 

 is a sign that the bud has 

 taken, or become united with the 

 stock : on the contrary, if the iicti- 

 olc withers or .shrivels, it is an 

 indication that the bud is dead or 

 dvinsj. As soon as it is known 

 that the buds have become united 

 with the stock, the ties should 

 be loosened ot cut, and the buds 

 seen to occasionally, and in about 

 six weeks from the time of budding 

 tbev maA' be removed altoirether. 

 When the bud shows signs of pu.sh-* 

 ing, the stock, if necessary, may 

 be headed back to within half an 

 inch of the top of the shield. The 

 bud will then begin to grow rapid- 



h-. and in the course of the grow- 

 ing season a nice tree will be 

 formed. On the other- hand, if 

 the bud is left dorm.ant till the 

 winter pruning, the heading back 

 mav be left till that time. 

 If the budding is done in or 

 before December, the bud is 

 better to be pushed right away, 

 and no time is lost ; but if 

 the budding is not done till late in 

 the summer, it will be better to 

 leave the bud dormant till the 

 spring, when a vigorous shoot may 

 be looked for. 



Raspberries. 



Raspberries are much appreciat- 

 ed fruits, wholesome, delicious, and 

 easily cidtivated where the situa- 

 tion and soil are suitable. Both 

 the red and yellow kinds are 

 pretty dessert fruit, while for 

 tarts, compotes, preserves, syrups, 

 and vinegar thev are far superior 

 to the strawberry^ Few old writers 

 have said mi'ich about the berry, 

 which owes its name either to its 

 very thorny stem or to the fact 

 that the fruit looks roirgh, hence 

 raspberry, which gardeners and 

 others often shorten to "rasps." 

 The common raspberry (R. idaeus) 

 grows wild in a good many Kng- 

 lish woods and shady banks, and 

 upon hills and high cliffs. The fruit 

 in the indigenous plants is gener- 

 alh' bright rtd, sometimes 3'ellow. 

 It also grows wild in most parts 

 of northern Europe, Africa, and 

 Asia ; some say most of our cul- 

 tivated species are descended from 

 the Himalayan raspberry, which 

 has fruit of a reddish-orange 

 colour. The .stems of the wild 

 raspberry, like those of the garden 

 species, are erect, no trailing. The 

 flowers are greenish-yellow, and 

 the fruit consists of a very few 

 comparatively large scarlet drupes 

 of pleasant flavour. 



In America endless kinds of 

 brambles are cultivated, and some 

 of them are cross'es between the 

 blackberry and raspberry. The 

 wincberrv is really a .Tananese 

 plant ; the very abundant berries 

 resemble those of the mulberry in 

 .shape, but are of a bright red hue, 

 and the foliage is handsome. The 

 IvOganberry, with its large, 

 maroon-red fruit, is a hybrid be- 

 tween the blackbcrrv and 'rasp- 

 berry. There is another species 

 with almost black fruit ; there is 

 al.so the " Glen field " black rasp- 

 berry. The so-called "'strawberry 

 ra.si)berry " is a hybrid, for which 

 verv much cannot be .said. The 

 fruit is rather like that of the Ar- 

 butus, but is very tasteless. 



