18 



THE AVOCADO IN FLORIDA, 



Bud sticks (%. 5) arc cut from well-matured growth, especially such 

 as shows an abundance of active l)uds. (See lig. 5, a,) Wood 

 with many blind buds (see %. 5, Z», I, V) should be avoided and care 

 taken not to use such buds in propagating. Some are likely to occur 

 on any stick. 



Various methods of budding have been adopted and some forms of 

 grafting have been suggested. The common shield bud (fig. 2) seems 

 to be about as successful as any that have been tried, though the patch 

 bud is also used with a considerable degree of success. 



Fig. 2.— Shield Fio. 3.— Soed- 



]jud cut out 

 prc'purutory 

 to insertion-. 



ling iivocado 

 stock with 

 hhield bud in- 

 serted. 



Fig. 4.— Shield 

 bud wrapped 

 with Avaxed 

 cloth. 



(iRAFTING. 



a. 



Fig. 5.— Bud stick; a, «, etc., 

 ' 'live ' ' buds in various stages 

 of dcveloptnent; h, h, etc., 

 blind buds which should not 

 be used. 



Baltet" recommends four different methods of grafting: (1) Inarch- 

 ing, (2) veneer grafting, (3) cleft grafting, and (4) veneer grafting near 

 the root. In inarching and cleft grafting the top of the stock is fig- 

 ured as having been cut away. In the other two methods the top of 

 the stock is left until the scion has started. Well-matured wood will 

 live for several weeks if kept in a sufficiently moist condition, and will 

 doubtless unite readily with the stock, but it is nmch more wasteful 

 of scion wood and a more tedious process than budding. 



''L'Art (le (Jreffer, 7th vd., Var'ia, 1902, p. 22(5. 



