338 
GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 
tion by a few coils of bass-matting, the whole be¬ 
ing surrounded by clay. 
Dove-Tail Grafting. —This is a very neat and 
successful mode of grafting, originating with Mr. 
Malone, who gives the following directions for its 
performance. The scion is to be selected so as to 
have two or three buds above where the knife is 
to be inserted to prepare it for the operation; a 
slip is cut off the end of the scion, sloping it to the 
bottom as long as it may be decided to insert it 
into the stock. On each side of the cut, as far as 
it extends, a part of the bark is to be taken off, 
leaving the under part broader than the upper, on 
which upper or back part always contrive to leave 
a bud. The stock or branch to be worked is thus 
prepared : Being first cut off smooth and straight, 
two parallel slits, distant from each other nearly 
the width of the scion and the length of its cut part, 
are then made in the bark of the branch, observing 
particularly to slope the knife, so that the under 
edge of the cut next the wood may be wider than 
the outer edge. The piece of bark between the 
slit's must then be taken out, separating at the bot¬ 
tom by a horizontal cut. The scion will then slide 
into the dove-tail groove thus formed, and, if the 
work is well performed, will fit neatly and tightly. 
A small quantity of the grafting-clay must then 
be carefully applied, securing it on with list, or 
any other convenient bandage, fastening it at the 
end with two small nails. The top of the stock 
should be entirely covered with clay, sloping it 
well up to the grafts, and should be examined often 
to see if any cracks or openings appear, which 
should be immediately filled up with some very 
soft clay. The proper time for performing the 
operation is from the beginning of April till the 
middle of May, or earlier if the sap is in motion. 
(Gardener’s Magazine, Yol. VII.) 
Budding.—(Fig. 60.) 
Budding.— Budding is performed for precisely 
the same purpose as grafting, and, like grafting, 
it is performed in many different ways; and as 
long experience has ascertained the best method, 
namely, that of T budding, (1,) so called from the 
form of the two cuts that are made in the bark of 
the stock to receive the bud, or shield-budding , as 
it is sometimes called from the form of the piece 
of bark (2) on which the bud is seated, assuming 
the shape of a shield when it is prepared to be in¬ 
serted within the T cut in the stock. 
The only solid difference between budding and 
grafting is this, that whereas in grafting you in¬ 
sert on the stock a branch already produced, in 
budding, you insert only the bud. I shall proceed, 
in treating of this matter, in the same way that I 
did in the preceding article, namely, as to the sea¬ 
son proper for budding , the choosing and prepar- 
ing of the bud , the operation of budding , and the 
future treatment of the plant budded. 
The Season for Budding is generally from the 
latter end of July to the latter end of August, the 
criterions being a plump appearance of the buds 
formed on the spring shoot of the same year, seat¬ 
ed in the angle of a leaf, and a readiness in the 
bark of the stock to separate from the wood. 
In Choosing and Preparing the Bud , fix on one 
seated at about the middle of a healthy shoot of 
the mid-summer growth—these are, generally 
speaking, the most inclined to fruitfulness. Choose 
a cloudy day, if you have a choice of days at this 
season, and if not, perform your work early in the 
morning, or in the evening. The time being 
proper, you sever the branch on which you find 
the buds to your liking. Take this with you to 
the stock that you are going to bud, holding the 
branch in your left hand, the largest end down¬ 
ward ; make a sloping cut from about an inch and 
a half below the bud to about an inch above it, 
suffering your knife to go through the bark, and 
about half way into the wood, cutting out wood 
and all. This keeping of the wood prevents the 
bud and its bark from drying while you are pre¬ 
paring the incision in the stock, and if you wish 
to carry buds of scarce sorts to any distance, you 
may do so safely by putting their ends in water, 
or in damp moss, but it is always safer, as well in 
grafting as in budding, to perform the operation 
with as much expedition as possible, but particu¬ 
larly it is so in budding. 
Operation of Budding. —Cut off the leaf under 
which the bud is situated, but leave its foot-stalk, 
(2, a,) and by this hold it between your lips, 
I while with your budding-knife you cut two 
j straight lines in the stock at the place where 
you wish to insert the bud, and this should 
| be where the bark is smooth, free from any 
I bruises or knots, and on the side rather from 
the mid-day suns. Of these lines let the first 
be horizontal, (1,) and let the next be longi¬ 
tudinal, beginning at the middle of the first 
cut and coming downward. Let them, in 
short, describe the two principal bars of the 
« Homan letter T. You have now to take out 
® from the bark on which the bud is, the piece 
; of wood on which the bark is, and which has 
served you, up to this time, to preserve the 
bud and bark from drying and shrinking. But 
this is a nice matter. In doing it you must be 
careful not to endanger the root of the bud, as it 
is called, because in that is its existence. The 
bark, (if the season be proper for budding,) will 
easily detach itself from this piece of wood, but 
still it requires a very careful handling to get it 
out without endangering the root of the bud. Hold 
the bud on your fore-finger, and keep your thumb 
on the wood opposite; then with the fore-finger 
and thumb of the other hand, bend backward and 
forward the lower end of the shield, and thus coax 
the wood to disengage itself from the bark; and 
