FAMILIAR LESSONS ON PRACTICAL GARDENING. 
419 
tlie bark, tlie bud, and a small fibrous portion 
inside the bark, which portion is called the root 
of the bud (d). If this be so, 
the bud will be ready for in- 
sertion ; but if instead of the 
fibrous portion at the base 
of the bud, on the inner side, 
a small hollow or cavity is 
perceived, the bud is spoiled, 
and another must be taken. 
The bark on the sides of the longitudinal slit in 
the stock is now, with thethin end of the handle 
of the budding- knife, to be gently raised and 
separated from the wood, for about half-an-inch 
in width on each side (h). Both stock and bud 
are now prepared. The next thing is to slip one 
side of. the little shield of bark, containing the 
bud, so far under one side of the raised bark of 
the stock, as to admit the other side of the shield 
beneath the opposite raised portion, and then 
the bud is shifted and adjusted so as to occupy 
the centre of the opening ; in doing all this, 
the little piece of leaf stalk retained is found 
very convenient, for it serves as a handle. In 
this stage of the operation, the whole of that 
part of the shield of bark below the bud, and 
part of that above it, is inserted behind that 
part of the bark of the stock which was divided 
by the perpendicular cut ; the top part of the 
shield, at the same time, will project upwards 
beyond the cut, and all that does so project 
upwards is next to be cut away, so that the 
top end of the shield may abut against the 
undisturbed bark of the stock, above the hori- 
zontal incision (compare c and d). The inner 
side of the shield of bark, containing the bud, 
must lie closely and flatly against the wood of 
the stock (e). When so adjusted, 
take a piece of soft bass- matting, 
well soaked, and bind up the part, 
commencing about an inch below, 
and continuing about the same dis- 
tance above the incised part, just 
allowing the bud to peep out, but 
otherwise closely, so as to exclude 
the air ; it is best to tie the end of 
the matting, and then wind it round, 
taking care to keep it flat and pull 
it close and firm throughout. This 
completes the operation. In two or three 
weeks' time, the plump appearance of the bud, 
or otherwise, will indicate the success or failure 
of the operation. If successful, in a month 
or five weeks the bandage may be loosened, 
to allow the parts to swell, and in another 
week be entirely removed. Early in the fol- 
lowing season it is usual to cut away the head 
of the stock, above the bud — which then takes 
its place ; this should be cut off clean, by a 
sloping cut, about half-an-inch above the bud; 
but it is well to cut half way through first, at 
a little distance upwards, in order to start the 
bud without making it the only outlet for 
the sap; and then, when it has made a little 
progrrss, remove the head entirely, as just 
explained. 
Budding, like grafting, is most usefully em- 
ployed in propagating choice kinds of fruit- 
trees ; and of these it is usual to practise it 
chiefly on the stone fruits, as the cherry, plum, 
peach, and apricot. 
The directions given under budding and 
grafting suppose it to be the object that the 
bud or graft should replace the head of the 
stock, and of itself entirely form the future 
head of the tree. But besides this, either of 
the operations may be had recourse to, as a 
means of filling up any bare parts of a tree, 
where it may not be convenient to cause the 
growth of young shoots by pruning. In this 
case the operation is performed precisely as 
already detailed, except only in what may refer 
to the removal of the head of the stock. 
CROPPING AND ROTATION OF CROPS. 
The admitted advantage of a rotation of 
crops has been explained to depend on diffe- 
rent causes. It was once a very favourite 
notion that plants gave out certain matters 
which were called excrementary, or rejecta- 
mentary, and that the excrementitious sub- 
stance left behind by one set of plants, became 
as it were poisonous to closely succeeding 
plants of the same kind, but innocuous in re- 
ference to plants of a totally different nature. 
This notion is however now very generally 
exploded ; and with more apparent propriety, 
the advantage of a rotation of crops is ex- 
plained by the doctrine that different plants 
take up different kinds of food, which being 
more or less exhausted by a crop of any par- 
ticular kind, will not fully supply a closely 
succeeding crop of the same kind, unless the 
loss has been replaced — summarily by the ap- 
plication of manure, or more slowly by the 
action of the atmosphere during a course of 
fallow. The fallowing of soil is, however, now 
seen to be an unnecessary loss, inasmuch as 
a judicious rotation of the crops answers the 
same purpose, for different crops will follow 
each other successfully without manuring the 
soil for each, which may be done when each 
course of cropping is complete. 
Another cause of the advantage of rotation 
may consist in the different habits of growth 
natural to different classes of plants ; thus 
some roots spread near the surface, which is 
thus exhausted ; others dive deeper, and thus 
the adjacent layer is made to furnish its quota 
of nutrition ; while others, which go deeper 
still, are supplied by food which the former 
did not reach. This mechanical advantage of 
rotation is worth attention. 
All garden vegetables may be made to grow 
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