166 



INOCULATION, OR BUDDING. 



those at the lower end. In some cases, however, the buds 

 from the middle and extremity of the shoots are to be re- 

 jected, and those taken which are at the base of the annual 

 shoots, as Knight (Ilort. Trans, vol. iii. p. 135) found in 

 the case of the walnut-tree. Scalope budding may be 

 performed in the spring, or at any season. 



Stocks for budding may, in general, be much smaller 

 than for grafting, as the operation may be performed on 

 the same year's shoot. But it may also be performed on 

 shoots or stems of several years' growth, and in such, by 

 inserting a number of buds, a complete tree may be formed 

 at once. Scalope budding may be performed on trees of 

 eovsiderable age. 



" Choice of buds. — For gathering the shoots containing 

 the buds, a cloudy day, or an early or late hour, should be 

 chosen, on this principle, that the leaves, being at these 

 periods in a less active state of perspiration, suffer least 

 from being separated from their parent plant. They are 

 preserved fresh, and may be sent a great distance by 

 inserting their ends in water or moist moss ; though in 

 general they should be used as soon after gathering as pos- 

 sible ; indeed, as in grafting and inarching, the whole ope- 

 ration ought to be performed with the greatest celerity. 



" Kinds of budding. — Professor Thouin enumerates twen- 

 ty-three species and varieties of budding ; but we shall here 

 describe only four, of which but one variety is in general 

 use in Britain. 



" Shield-budding J or T budding^ is thus performed :— Fix 

 on a smooth part on the side of the stock, rather from than 

 towards the sun, and of a height depending, as in grafting, 

 whether dwarf, whole or half standard-trees are desired ; 

 then, with the budding-knife, make a horizontal cut across 

 the rind, quite through to the firm wood ; from the mid- 

 dle of this transverse cut, make a slit downward, perpen- 

 dicularly, an inch or more long, going also quite through 

 to the wood. This done, proceed with all expedition to 

 take off a bud; holding the cutting or scion in one hand, 

 with the thickest end outward, and, with the knife in the 

 other hand, enter it about half an inch or more below the 

 bud, cutting near half way into the wood of the shoot, con- 

 tinuing it with one clean slanting cut, about half an inch or 

 more above the bud, so deep as to take off part of the Wood 

 along with it, the whole about an inch and a half long ; 

 then, directly, with the thumb and finger, or point of the 

 knife, slip off the v^^oody part remaining to the bud ; which 



