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of the sour orange tree about two inches from the bottom, and a per- 

 pendicular cut to form the letter T (as shown in Figure 2.) Make the 

 outs so that the bottom of the perpendicular cut is as close to the bottom 

 of the shoot as possible. The cuts should go clean through the bark, 

 but care must be taken not to cut the wood. Insert the end of the bud- 

 ding knife under the bark at the top of the cut and loosen the bark on 

 both sides, from top to bottom, so that the bud may be easily pushed 

 under the bark. 



Take the sweet orange bud carefully and remove the piece of bark con- 

 taining the bud off the piece of wood which was cut off with it by gently 

 pushing the end of the budding knife between the bark and the wood ; 

 this is done With the greatest ease if the shoot is of the right age. 

 Push the piece of bark with the bud down to the bottom of the T shaped 

 cut, taking care to insert it so that the bud is looking upwards as it 

 was when growing, (as shown in Figure 3). 



Care must be taken in all the operations that neither the bark con- 

 taining the bud, nor the bark of the sour shoots is injured, or the opera- 

 tion will probably be a failure. 



When the bud is in its proper place at the bottom of the T cut, it 

 must be tied firmly to make it stick close to the wood of the shoot, and 

 also to prevent the bark of the sour shoot from shrivelling and turning 

 back, leaving the bud to dry up. Knitting wool, or other soft materials 

 should be used, tying it rather tighter than can be borne on one's fin- 

 ger. Take care to cover the whole of the wood on which theT cut has 

 been made, and at the same time not to cover the bud. 



It is necessary that the trees be inspected every two weeks after bud- 

 ding to be sure that the wood has not swollen so as to tighten the 

 woollen thread and hinder the flow of the sap. It must be seen too 

 that the string be renewed if it breaks, for if this should happen, the 

 bark of the shoot will turn back, and the bud will die. 



The shoot on which the bud is placed should be cut back to within a 

 foot of the bud. When the bud has grown about three inches, cut the 

 sour shoot back to within three inches of the bud ; when the bud has 

 grown a foot, cut the sour shoot back close to the top of the bud, so that 

 no buds are left on the sour shoot. 



If the sour tree after being cut back, should not send out shoots near 

 the top, the stump should be cut back to where it is shooting, before 

 the shoots grow long, or it will be very difficult to tie the buds. Six 

 shoots may be budded on each stump, all shoots not budded must be 

 rubbed off or they will take all the sap and starve the sweet orange buds. 



A proper budding knife similar to the one illustrated is almost in- 

 dispensable ; an ordinary knife may be used, but it is necessary to 

 exercise more care if the steel blade is used to loosen the bark of the 

 bud or of the T cut, than when using the handle of the budding knife. 



