306 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 21,1837, 
and procure this necessary half-ripe shoot, then the remainder of 
the business will be easy. All my failures in former times, and I 
had some, arose over this half ripe shoot. Well, here goes for a 
bold attempt at the solution of the mystery. If we break the 
prickles off a ripe shoot, we shall find that they are hard and dry, 
and when broken off, which may best be done by pressing them 
sideways, they leave a brown mark or scar on the bark of the 
Fig. 55. 
shoot. When in that state the buds on that shoot are too old for 
our purpose. If, going to the other extreme, we break a prickle off 
a young branch, we find that very often the prickle will not break 
off clean, but brings away some of the bark with it; there is no 
scar, but the bark is broken and the sap exudes, or, as Rose-growers 
say, the bark bleeds—in other cases, at a little further advanced 
stage, the prickle comes away pretty easily, but the bark bleeds as 
before, though not so much. The buds on both these examples are 
too young for budding. Later, the prickle may be broken off, and 
the bark will be found nearly dry, but quite green and fresh-looking, 
this is the branch for our purpose, and these are the buds we want. 
I should say that sometimes one portion of a branch may be too 
young for budding, while the other part is quite suitable ; in this 
case the only way is to use the suitable piece and throw away the 
other. Now if you will refer to fig. 55, you will see just such a 
branch as you require. You will observe that at a the leaf still 
remains attached to one of the buds. It is absolutely necessary 
that all tho leaves should be removed from any branch we wish to 
bud from the moment the branch is cut from the tree. The reason 
for this is not far to seek. We wish to retain as much sap and 
moisture as possible in the buds and the bark surrounding them ; if 
dry, the bark will not leave the wood ; the leaves if left on will 
keep on exhaling the moisture as long as there is any left. I have 
kept branches for budding with the leaves removed for a week in 
damp moss, and at the end of that time the buds worked beauti¬ 
fully. But to give an idea of the amount of ignorance there is in 
this world, I have known nurserymen send out branches of buds 
for budding with the leaves on, which, when they arrived at their 
destination, were, as a matter of course, found to be dried and 
withered. I do not wish anybody to take my word for all I have 
said here, but let him try for himself. Cut two branches, trim the 
leaves from one of them immediately, but allow the leaves on the 
other to remain, place them both in the sun for a few hours, and 
then see which is in the best condition for budding. The leaves 
should be removed at x as shown in the figure. In addition to the 
removal of the leaves, if many shoots are cut at one time, they 
should be placed in water, or damp moss, or something similar, 
until they are required. 
Now take the knife in your right hand—except you are left- 
handed, like me, in which case you’ will hold it in your left—and 
holding the shoot in the left hand, cut a bud exactly as shown in 
fig. 55 at b. Do not cut the bud clean off, but when you have 
nearly cut through—that is, as far as the figure shows, turn the 
knife blade back towards you, and the bud with it, and then tear it 
away, drawing it still towards you ; it will come off with a long tail 
of bark with it. Fig. 56 at c shows a bud cut so, and you can see 
the bark at the lower end drawn away a little from the wood. 
Now drop the shoot and take the bud in the left hand, holding it 
between the finger and thumb as shown, the bud pointing towards 
the palm of the hand, and the long tail towards your right. Now 
insert the point or edge of the blade of the knife between the wood 
and the back of the bud, just at the extreme end or tail (at h ), 
press your thumb on the blade, holding the tip of the wood firmly 
between the two, and then, moving the hand with a drawing and 
gradually turning motion from right to left, drag away the wood 
from the bud. Be sure always to begin drawing out the wood from 
any bud at the back, or behind the bud, as by so doing you are less 
likely to spoil it. If the bud is in a proper state, and the sap 
flowing freely, the wood will come out without any difficulty, and 
in this case the bud is almost certain to be whole and good. If 
the weather be dry, it sometimes happens—and this often occurs 
on dry soils—that although the buds seem to be of proper age 
and appearance, when we come to use them the wood will not 
come away from the bark without a lot of coaxing, in consequence 
of the absence of sap. If the soil be dry, therefore, it will be as 
well to give the roots of the plant from which we propose to cut 
our buds a good soaking with water about four hours before we 
cut the buds. In nine cases out of ten, in ordinary weather, and 
on ordinary soils, buds cut as advised above will be perfect, but it 
will be as well to explain how it sometimes happens that they are 
not so. We cannot always get just the buds we want in exactly 
the proper stage for budding, and in the case of choice varieties we 
must do the best we can, even if the buds are past their best. Now 
if the reader will procure a shoot of some common variety—about 
which he is not very particular—in the proper state for budding, 
and will cut aud prepare a bud as advised, he will see, on inspecting 
the interior or cut side of the bud, after removing the wood, a tiny 
piece of pith like a grain of sand, right in the centre of the bud. 
This little germ may be seen at i. If in drawing out the wood the 
operator draws this out with it, adhering to it, then the bud will 
be blind, and can never grow. Up to a certain age the latent bud 
seems to adhere to the bark, afterwards it sticks more closely to 
the wood, and at this latter period of its existence it is next to 
impossible to get the wood out without bringing the bud with it. 
In the same figure g shows a bud badly cut. 
Having got the wood out of our bud, we now proceed to cut 
the end or tail off, when it will present an appearance like f in 
fig. 56. Place it lightly between the lips, taking care not to touch 
the wet or sappy part, then make two cuts in the form of a T (see 
h in fig. 57) ; turn the handle of the knife to the long cut, and run 
