GRAFTING- AND BUDDING. 



149 



with a pushing bud should not be deferred to a late period; 

 too many gardeners and amateurs err in this respect with 

 their roses. The peach-tree succeeds better with this method 

 than with winter branch-grafting; but it does still better 

 when shield-budded with a dormant bud. As we shall see 

 presently, the stock, when grafted with a pushing bud, is to 

 be gradually headed down, commencing to do so a week after 

 grafting, in order to promote the growth of the scion. 



Shield-Budding ivith a Dormant Bud. 



A dormant bud does not sproutbef ore the spring which follows 

 the time of its insertion. The months of June, July, August, 

 and September are the proper times for inoculating a dormant 

 bud. The exact moment for operating depends on the state of 

 the sap in the stock. The older stocks, whose growth ceases 

 early, should be grafted first ; after them the young and 

 vigorous ones. Bearing this distinction in mind, tall standards 

 should be grafted earlier than low ones ; a stock of the current 

 year's growth later than one of former years ; the plum-tree 

 and the wild cherry earlier than the Sainte-Lucie and the 

 almond tree ; the pear on its own roots and the hawthorn 

 sooner than the quince and the apple ; maples and ash trees 

 later than chestnuts and lilacs. If it is apprehended that the 

 sap of the stock will cease to flow before the scions are suffi- 

 ciently ripened, the tops of the latter should be pinched a fort- 

 night beforehand, in order to accelerate their ripening, and the 

 nearer the time of grafting the shorter are they to be pinched. 

 However, if pinched too short and too soon, the latent eyes of 

 the scions will shoot and branch before the time of ripening, 

 and the scions will consequently be useless. On the other 

 hand, the vegetative powers of the stock may be prolonged 

 by the aid of waterings and stirring the soil around the roots. 

 Thus, retarded in the one subject and accelerated in the other, 



