VIII 



PROPAGATION 



129 



checks the flow of sap to the bud instead of increasing 

 it. When the ties are removed, standard stocks that 

 have failed may be re-budded on fresh shoots. The 

 date of budding each stock or row should be entered 

 on the label or in a book, that the proper time for 

 removing the ties may be known. 



Some recommend budding with only the longitudinal 

 cut and no transverse one. This may be a more satis- 

 factory operation when it is done, but it requires an 

 expert hand to get the bud in under these circum- 

 stances, and the cross-cut system answers very well. 



Budding on cutting or seedling stocks to make 

 "dwarf" plants is practised in just the same way, 

 except that in this case the bud is not put into the 

 branches, but into the old wood of the main stem 

 beneath, if possible, the surface of the ground. As 

 before, no growths should be cut away or stopped, but 

 the shoots may be bent back to allow access to the 

 stem. A trowel or the blunt stump of an old knife 

 may be used for removing the earth round the stock to 

 the depth of an inch or more. The stem should then 

 be rubbed with the hand or a piece of old flannel or 

 cloth to make it clean and free from grit, no harm 

 being done by the removal of the epidermis or outer 

 skin of bark. 



The operation now proceeds as in standards, only one 

 bud being put into each stock, and great care being 

 taken that no particles of earth or extraneous matter 

 get in between the bud and the stock. With extra 

 strong manettis, or in any case where a small bud has 

 to be put into a strong rough thick-barked stock, thin 

 slices may be taken from the lips of the bark to 

 prevent its completely meeting over the bud, and 

 "drowning" it in growth. Formerly the material 



K 



