1862,3 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
309 
rig. i. 
Staking up Trees. 
We need not argue the importance of proper¬ 
ly tying up young trees, especially such as are 
exposed to winds, or to be 
jostled by passing men or 
cattle. It is undesirable 
to bind a tree directly to a 
stake, because it rubs and 
chafes against it as it is 
swayed by the wind. A 
tight band is not good, be¬ 
cause as the tree grows 
the trunk enlarges, and 
the band is drawn too 
tight. The plan shown in 
fig. 1, overcomes these dif¬ 
ficulties entirely, and af¬ 
fords, besides, very good 
protection against ani¬ 
mals. Two stakes are 
driven near the tree, and 
a band of canvass, oil-, 
•cloth, or leather is passed^ 
from each about the stem. 
The winds may sway if 
back and forth a little in 
every direction, unless the 
bands are too tight, and the trunk may grow a 
great deal, while the only effect produced will 
be that the stakes will be drawn a little nearer 
together. Fig. 2 illus¬ 
trates another plan 
' not so good for tall 
stemmed trees, but 
Kl s? .better for short ones 
perhaps—although 
|\ /K, equally applicable to 
| any. A band of straw 
is passed about the 
trunk, the ends twist¬ 
ed together for a foot 
or so, and then bound 
about a stake set 12 to 
14 inches off. The 
stake must be set in 
the direction toward 
the prevalent high 
winds, and the stiff 
straw twist prevents 
much motion, even 
toward the stake. 
“As the twig is bent, 
so the tree’s inclined,” 
* A is an old saw, but one 
which never needs re-setting, however much the 
trees may. The worst eye-sore a thrifty farmer 
can have on his farm is a lopped down tree. 
When and How to Bud. 
Budding, we need hardly say, is the process 
of removing a bud from one variety of tree or 
plant, and inserting it in another. The object in 
budding is the same as in grafting, viz: to prop¬ 
agate a desirable sort of tree. The cion used 
in grafting is only a development of the bud 
used in budding. Fruit can generally be got by 
grafting sooner than by budding. But when a 
variety is very scarce, we can by budding get 
new limbs from single eyes; whereas, in graft¬ 
ing we have to use several eyes. The stone 
fruits exude so much gum in the Spring in north¬ 
ern climates, that it is hard to make grafts 
take. In all kinds of fruit, where grafting has 
failed or been neglected in the Spring, budding 
may be resorted to in the Summer. 
’ Fig. 2. 
The ordinary season for this work is from the 
first of July to the middle of August. But a 
more accurate criterion is the state of the buds 
and the bark. The shoot from which the buds 
are taken, must be of the current 
year’s growth, and must be mature. 
This maturity will be shown by the 
forming of buds at the axils of the 
leaves, and of the terminal bud. 
The best buds for working will be 
found along the middle of the shoot. 
Many circumstances affect the con¬ 
dition of the buds and bark, and 
those sorts which come earliest into 
condition for budding must be first 
attended to, and of course others 
in succession. On some ijj 
stocks and in some soils ~ i 
plums mature first, in others fsfw 
pears. Cherries may often |||B' 
be budded on Mahaleb |*|[ 
stocks as late as Oct. 1st. 
The bark must be in a con¬ 
dition to lift easily from the 
wood, and there must be sap enough 
between the two to feed the young 
bud, and to help form a union with 
it There must, also, be a certain 
degree of affinity between the bud 
and the stock. The pear, quince, 
apple, crab, and mountain ash, be¬ 
longing to the same family, may be 
budded or grafted on each other. 
So with the apricot, plum, nectarine 
and peach. Cun-ants and gooseber¬ 
ries may be worked on each other, 
and one sort of cherry on another. 
The practical operation of budding 
is simple. The method most com¬ 
monly followed in this country is called Shield 
Budding , and is as follows: Having cut a cion 
containing the desired buds, (fig. 1,) choose a 
smooth, young stem, for the operation; and, if 
possible, let the insertion be made on the north 
side of it. With a sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut 
a slit through the bark about an inch to an inch 
and a half long, and with a cross-cut at the 
top, the whole shaped like the letter T, (fig. 3.) 
Then, from your cion, slice out a good bud with 
a little of the bark and wood attached, as in 
fig. 2. Now, with the other end of your bud¬ 
ding knife, (if you use the common one), raise 
the bark of the stock, and slip the bud into the 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 
slit, and press it down to the bottom of the cut, 
leaving it so as to look like fig. 4. Be careful 
not to bruise the bud or the adjoining lips of the 
bark. Finish the work by tying down the bud 
and bark with bass-matting or soft woolen-yarn. 
Let the whole wound be well covered, so as to 
exclude air and moisture except from the point 
of the bud (fig. 5.) This whole operation should 
be done quickly. If the bud is long exposed, it 
dries, and is less likely to grow. A round min¬ 
ute is full long enough for the operation. A 
smart budder will insert and tie 600 to 1000 buds 
iu a day, and if he lias boys to' tie after him, 
2000 to 3000. It must be done expertly, too. II 
the bud has any torn and ragged edges, or. if the 
wood under the slit is bruised with the knife, 
expect a failure. Where one has but a few buds 
to insert, he should choose a cloudy day, or the 
moist hours of morning and evening. 
After-Treatment .—In a fortnight after the in¬ 
sertion, examine the buds to see whether they 
have “.taken.” This will be shown by their 
plumpness and freshness. The bandages should 
then be loosened a little, to allow room for ex¬ 
pansion of stock and bud. Early the following 
Spring, cut off the stock with a sloping cut two 
or three inches above the bud. The bud will 
then push with much vigor. 
The Best Budding Knife. 
The common budding knife, having a long 
flat ivory handle for lifting the bark after the 
cut is made in the stock, is very inconvenient in 
rapid work, as it requires turning end for end at 
every operation. The knife, 
of which we give a full-size il¬ 
lustration, is far better, the 
blade answering the double 
purpose of cutting the slit, 
and lifting the bark, and the 
.whole, knife being no larger 
than can be conveniently 
grasped in the hand when 
open, the thumb resting upon 
the blade. The cutting part 
extends half around the end, 
and two-thirds of the length 
of the blade. That part of 
the end not sharp, is smooth 
and rounded, so that after the 
cut is made, this part may be 
slipped up under the bark on 
one side of the slit, and down 
on the other, just enough to 
start it. The cross-cut being 
made first, the other opera¬ 
tions follow in very rapid suc¬ 
cession. The buds having 
been cut from the stick, are 
held, half a dozen at a time, 
between the lips, and in a 
shorter time than we can de¬ 
scribe it, may be inserted in 
the stocks. This knife is in 
common use in some of the I 
nurseries about New-York. 
Our attention was first called J 
to it by Mr. A. S. Fuller, of I 
Brooklyn, who has been ac- | 
tive in introducing it. We J 
know of no place where it 1 
can be bought, but any cutler 1 
will insert such a blade in a l 
common handle. The danger 
of bruising the young wood by the knife is very 
slight, for if the bark parts freely it is only 
necessary to start it by a slight lateral pressure, 
first on one side and then on the other, toward 
the top of the slit; the bark will be lifted enough 
to let the bud slip in, which, as it is slid down 
into its place, loosens the bark still more, if 
necessary. It is a good plan to polish the blunt 
edge of the blade used for lifting the bark. 
