BUDDING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 57, 7 March 1913, Page 9

BUDDING.

The propagation of fruit trees, generally speaking, is a task which essentially belongs to the nurseryman who has the knowledge and the facilities for carrying out the operations. At the same time, the amateur who desires to try his hand will find the work, in its many and varied phases, extremely interesting, and it will immensely add to the pleasure of the garden. It was customary years ago to rely A"cry largely upon grafting for apples and pears, but in comparatively recent times it has been proved that budding giv&j a better tree, and therefore it is clone with the kinds named just as it is with plums, peaches, nectarines, and cherries, none of which are quite as satisfactory when grafted as wheu budded. The operation, no matter what the particular fruit may lie, is one that must be carried out in the summer.

This is the root portion of the plant and it is absolutely necessary that it shall be in. a state of perfect health and cleanliness. To insert fine buds on an unhealthy stock i s to court disaster and disapppintinent. while to work those that are dirty from insect infestations or other cause in folly, because time, money and labour are simply thrown away'; the roots must be equally as clean and healthy as the branches. It is necessary, too. that the bark shall be in suitable condition. To put the bud in its place it i.s essential that the bark shall rise, easily on each of the cut; if it will not do so the stock is not quite ready, while if it at once peels it is on the reverse, or overripe, bide, and success is by no means assured. But further attention will be drawn to this matter when iusertion is being described.

This. also, has to be in a certain condition if success instead of failure is to be the reward, and it may be asserted that when a man h-is gained sufficient experience precisely to judge whether the bud and th- bark are ill a suitable state he lias mastered the secrets ot successful budding. The bud will be cut from the variety it is desired to increase am! 'with it will come a thin rtliee of the wood. The sheath of the bud is taken in the left baud and the point of the knife i* inserted beneath the inner wood, the thumb nail pressing it closely to the blade: then pulling commences and if the wood instantly flies out the bud is overripe, while if it is really bard labour to get it out it is underripe, and neither condition is conducive to success. There should be a distinct adhesion of the wood to the idiea'.h, but a steady pull; ought to be sufficient to remove it without riising a doubt in the mind as to whether the base of the bud has been damaged in the process or not. Such a bud properly inserted and correctly tied in will almost certainly grow.

In preparing to insert the buds two cuts must be made on the stock, and they should correspond approximately with the length and width of the bud sheath. .JThus.if theadalter ii _ incVjlqiig. and 1 inch Avide tn* : "Upwtffd Cut on the stock should be of similar length and cross cut of similar width forming a long-legged■■'■capital'" T. "Then with the haft of the knife the bark on each side must be ' gently raised from the top' downwards, and in this again there should be undoubted adhesion without hard pulling on the one hand or flying' up on the other. This done .the bud sheath must be taken by tha stump of the leaf and firmly pressed down into position, and if the cuts are correct the bud will be midway between the top and bottom of the cut. Tying in completes the operation, and it must be done firmly with soft material and in such a way that the newly inserted bud is not strangled by the cross tie coming over in the axil.. With growth this ligature will have to be cut away and a looser one put on, hut this -is a matter of weeks and sometimes months 'later, according to circumstances.—"The Gardener".