344 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
is different. It is rather unfortunate that we 
have two so distinct names for the operations. 
The French, who make a great many kinds 
of grafting, call budding “shield-grafting.” 
In budding we have still nicer work than in 
grafting. Instead of taking a twig with several 
buds from one tree and planting (grafting) 
it into another, we take one single bud 
and plant it in another tree. The tree 
that is budded or grafted is called the 
stock, which is operated upon or worked 
when of small size. Peach-trees from 
stones planted in the spring are large 
enough to bud the fall of the same year. 
Apple, pear, and most other stocks re¬ 
quire to grow two or more years before 
they are large enough to bud. But 
we have not space to discuss the sub¬ 
ject of stocks. The next thing to con¬ 
sider is the bhds, wdiicli must of course 
be taken from the variety that we 
wish to propagate. It may seem super¬ 
fluous to state this, but it is not rare 
to find a person who thinks that there 
is some virtue in the mere act of bud¬ 
ding, and does not seem to know that 
the future tree will be precisely like the 
one from which the buds are taken. To 
obtain buds, we cut twigs of the present 
season’s growth on which the buds, at 
the angle where the leaf joins the 
stem, are well developed. The leaves 
upon this twig are cut away, leav¬ 
ing the leaf-stalk attached. This is 
called a stick of buds (fig. 1), which in 
damp moss or in a close tin box may be 
kept for several days. The stocks and 
buds being ready, then comes the me¬ 
chanical operation, which can be readi¬ 
ly learned by watching a budder, or 
by practicing a short while upon some 
worthless twigs or stocks. The time for 
the operation depends upon the kind 
of stock and upon the season, it be¬ 
ginning much earlier at the South than 
at the North. The stock must be in 
a growing condition, in order that the 
bark may part freely from the wood. 
The only implement required is a 
budding-knife (fig. 2), which is often made with 
a small ivory blade at one end for use in lifting 
the bark of the stock. Material for tying is 
needed, which is usually bass-matting or bass- 
bark prepared from our native tree. Corn-husks 
are used by some, as are cotton and woolen yarn, 
etc. The operation of removing the bud is 
showm in figure 3. The knife being placed 
Fig. 3. —MANNER OF REMOVING THE BUD. 
about half an inch above the bud, a cut is made 
so that it will come out about three fourths of 
an inch below it, removing the bud with an at¬ 
tached shield of bark and usually a small piece 
of wood. If this portion of wood which ad¬ 
heres to the inside of the bud separates easily, 
it may be removed, otherwise it can be left. A 
smooth place being chosen upon the stock, and 
such leaves as are in the w T ay removed, tw r o 
cuts are made, one transverse and the other 
lengthwise, as in figure 4, the corners of the 
bark are lifted as in figure 5, and the bud put in 
its place as in figure G. The lop of the bark 
attached to the bud is cut off square, so that it 
may fit accurately to the transverse cut in the 
stock. The last operation is to tie. A strip of 
bass or other material is wound around in such 
a manner as to keep the cut edges of the 
bark from curling up, and to hold the bud in 
place, as shown in figure 7, when the tie is put 
around the stock both below and above the bud. 
The operation is performed by a skillful hand 
with great rapidity. In the peach-growing dis¬ 
tricts there arc those who make a business of 
budding, and put in from fifteen hundred to 
three thousand buds as a day’s work. They 
have a boy to go ahead and trim the stocks, 
and one to follow to tie. The peach-budders 
use a very simple tie, either that sliowm in fig. 
8, where the knot is over the bud, or in fig. 9, 
where the knot is on the opposite side of the 
stock. In about two weeks after budding it can 
be determined if the buds have “ taken; ” if so, 
they will remain plump and green, and the leaf¬ 
stalk will have fallen. If the leaf-stalk dries 
and remains, and the buds look brown and 
shriveled, the operation has failed. As 1 lie 
stock grows the ties may strangle the bud, 
hence they are cut as soon as the bud has united. 
The bud remains dormant until the next spring, 
when the stock above it is cut away, and the bud 
pushes rapidly and makes a vigorous growth. 
The Venetian Sumac or Smoke-Tree. 
usual for both of them to be showy the same 
year. The engraving gives a very much re¬ 
duced flpwer-cluster, and at one side some of the 
hairy abortive flower-stalks, with one much 
less hairy, bearing the fruit or berry. 
VENETIAN SUMAC OR SMOKE-TREE. 
The Venetian Sumac or Smoke-tree, also 
called by some nurserymen the Purple-fringe 
Tree, is one of our best ornamental plants. It 
is useful when planted in groups, but shows to 
the best advantage w'hen grown by itself in a 
position where it can develop without 
being crow’ded by its neighbors. One 
would hardly suppose it to belong to 
the same genus with our native Sumac, 
but such is the case, though it differs 
from our species in having simple 
leaves. Its botanical name is Rhus 
Cotinus; it is a native of Southern 
Europe, and in its wild state is to be 
considered rather as a bush than a 
tree. Under cultivation it will grow 
to the hight of fifteen or twenty feet, 
and if properly managed will form a 
very symmetrical rounded head. The 
leaves are oval, very blunt at the apex, 
and of a rich green color. Indeed, the 
tree is well worth growing for it3 
foliage alone, and this endures until the 
occurrence of very hard frosts, and 
often takes on a fine reddish yellow 
color late in the season. The flowers 
are small and greenish, and are succeed¬ 
ed by small fruits which are half-heart- 
sliaped. Usually only a small portion 
of the panicle bears flowers, the rest of 
the cluster consisting of abortive flower- 
stalks, which after the flowering in¬ 
crease very much in size, and are clothed 
■with long hairs. It is these large 
clusters of abortive flower-stalks that 
usually pass for flowers, and form the 
most ornamental portion of the tree. 
They usually occur in great profusion, 
their cloud-like masses often nearly 
concealing the foliage, and so light and 
feathery are they, that the name Smoke- 
tree is not inappropriate. When these 
clusters first appear, they are of a deli¬ 
cate purplish tinge, which afterwards 
W changes to a j'dlowish green. We are 
sometimes asked by correspondents, 
what they shall do to make their Smoke- 
trees flower. The trouble is that they do flower, 
and in such a case the tree makes but little show. 
It is only when from some cause or other the 
great majority of the flowers are abortive that the 
clusters take on their ornamental appearance. 
We have two trees upon our lawn, but it is not 
Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. 
Figs. 4 to 7.—MANNER OP INSERTING THE BUD. 
