MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG PLANTS. 57 



either by taking it totally off, or releasing the bud 

 by loosening it. This is essentially necessary to 

 be done, as in many cases, buds are totally lost 

 by being cut with the bandage. Buds should be 

 carefully looked over every few days, until the 

 fall of the leaf, as at that time the descent of 

 the sap will be completed. Many persons make it 

 a rule to take off entirely the bandages from buds 

 when they are taken or fully united to the tree. 

 Others, on the contrary, leave on all the bandage 

 during the winter, to protect the bud, and some take 

 off the bandage when the buds swell, and rebind 

 with new bass for the winter. It is difficult to de- 

 cide on which of these methods is the best, and 

 we must be guided in a measure by circumstances, 

 as to which will answer the best purpose. For my 

 own part, I think that it is best to. pay great atten- 

 tion to buds when they begin to swell, as the sap 

 descends ; and the best method is to loosen the 

 bandage at different times, to give the buds room to 

 swell ; I think also that the rebinding of the bud in 

 the fall with a view to protect it during the winter, 

 is, in many cases, of an essential service ; for we 

 often see buds winter killed, owing to the severity 

 of the winter, by springing the bark off of them, 

 and the lip off the cut in the stock. In the following 

 spring, the top of the stock may be cut off, about 

 six inches from the bud, and if any bandage be 

 about it, it should be taken away, that it may not be 

 cut when it commences to grow ; the part left above 

 the bud is intended to tie the young shoot to, and 

 protect it from being blown from the stock in sum- 

 mer when making rapid growth. 



Summer management, — When the buds begin to 



