170 



tree. The scion will usually be the small piece of sweet orange, good 

 grapefruit, or marketable lemon— wood containing the bud which is to 

 grow into the future tree. 



Both must be vigorous and healthy, the stock so much so that the 

 bark is thick and soft, and so easily detached from the wood as to ren- 

 der it possible i o push the buds under it to their proper position without 

 Laving to resort to the help of the knife to raise the bark, if this is not 

 so, the bud however good, will rarely grow ; if the stock is in the con- 

 dition described and the buds are not healthy and vigorous, then the 

 operation will probably be a failure. 



Large sour orange, lemon, shaddock, or other worthless trees before 

 they can be budded, must be cut down to a height of five feet above 

 the ground. They should be sawn level, the cut made quite smooth, 

 and covered with a good coating of tar ; ordinary coal tar mixed with 

 an equal bulk of grease should be used, as the mixture does not readily 

 crack or peel off in the hot sun. 



The proper time to cut down the trees is when it is certain that the 

 seasons' rains, either in October or May, have set in : October for pre- 

 ference, as the trees will then throw out young shoots readily ; on these 

 young shoots the sweet orange buds have to be placed. 



If the trees send out a large number of shoots, the shoots must 

 be reduced to six, selecting the six strongest nearest the top of the 

 stump, and at fairly equal distances from one another. These young 

 shoots must grow to be about as thick as one's finger or three quarters 

 of an inch thick at the base, before they are ready to be budded on. 

 If the trees are cut down about the beginning of October, this will be 

 about February, which is also the best time for budding, as the buds 

 then start to grow in the fine weather, and the May seas ns help them 

 along after they have commenced to grow. If the sour trees are in- 

 jured, or in poor health from any cause, do not attempt to bud 

 them. 



CONDITION OF TREES FROM VS^HICH THE SWEET ORANGE BUDS ARE TO BE 



TAKEN. 



Sweet orange buds must be taken from young but not soft wood 

 only. The proper sized growths are those about as thick as a lead pencil. 

 The buds must be well developed and plump as shown in the 

 illustration, and if possible should be taken from the round wood only. 

 Buds with thorns attached should not be used, they do not grow so 

 readily, and if they grow result in a tree on which long thorns will be 

 one of the chief features ; a tree grown at Hope from a bud with a 

 thorn an inch and a quarter in length attached, produced thorns over 

 eight inches in length. If the tree from whica it is desired to take 

 buds have no young growths of this description, the tree should be 

 cut back. If few buds are desired, then only some of the branches 

 need be cut, but if large quantities of buds are required the tree might 

 be cut back all over. Cut back the branches about a third of their 

 length, but not more ; this will cause them to send out the young 

 shoots. Unl?ss shoots on both sweet and sour trees are in the condi- 

 tion described, the budding will not be successful 



