THE GARDEN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume X, Issue 489, 25 August 1882, Page 25

THE GARDEN.

Eobe-Budding on Briebs.— There is no process in. the art of practical gardening more interesting, nor the fruits of which are more gratifying to an amateur, than budding. The time being now at band for performing the operation, a few hints as to how it should be done will, we trust, be acceptable to our readers. The theory is this :— At the base of the leaf is a small bud, which, after the leaf falls away from it, becomes prominent, and eventually, if left on the tree, becomes a branch. By taking a leaf off, with part of the bark, this incipient bud comes with it, and by inserting this bark under the bark of another rose tree, say one of these common briers, it unites as if it were originally a part of the brier itself ; but the bud retains all the character of the one it came from, and is not changed in the smallest degree by its transfer from its own to another stock. This is the fact upon which all propagation by budding is founded, and therefore we have two leading points to consider in setting about this operation. First, we must have the green bark of the stock, into which the buds are to be inserted, rise easily, which iLjloes all the while the branch is green and growing ; and secondly, < 9fre must wait until the bud, small and almost imperceptible as it is at the base of the leaf, is old enough to be removed with safety. In a general way the buds of summer roses are not ready till nearly midsummer, and the bark will not easily rise from the wood of the stock much after that. The budding season may, however, be called from the middle of June to the middle of July, and not very much longer. What is meant by the bark easily rising is, easily leaving the wood, so that it would be easy to peel a branch by stripping the bark off. The first thing, then, to look to is to obtain branches of the rose tree from which we want to produce other plants. If you obtain these branches before you are ready to use them, plant the thick end in the ground, and do not let the sun come near them, as it would destroy ,them soon ; but they ought not to be an hour longer than you can help unused. Get some best matting for ties, or very coarse

worsted, which some prefeT, because it gives way better if the bud swells, and will stand the weather longer. With a very sharp knife, called a budding knife, if you have one, and, if not, any other, and a thin piece of hard wood, bone, or ivory, like a small paper knife, you may go to work. The knife is to slit the bark down to the wood wherever you mean to put in the bud, and the piece of hard wood or ivory, with a sort of blunt edge like a paper knife, is to divide the bark from the wood by running it along under the bark, on each side ef the slit. Being thus provided, go to your stocks with your branches of the trees you want to propagate : take hold of the stock firmly, and shorten back the branches to a foot, or even less ; then with your knife, cut a slit in the bark, within half an inch 6f the base of the branch upwards, and on the upper side, an inch and a half long. About the middle of this slit make a small cut across ; then with ycur ivory or thin wood — or, more properly, if you have it, with the handle of your budding knife — rise up the bark on both sides ; then take the branch of your rose tree, from which you take your buds, and with your sharp knife shave out of the branch a thin piece of the wood, beginning half an inch below a leaf, and taking the knife along to come out half an inch above the leaf. This small bit has to be inserted under the bark on both sides, bringing the leaf which is where the bud is to the exact place where the cross cut is. When it is neatly inserted take your piece of matting and place the middle of it accross the slit just under the leaf ; pass it under, and cross it backwarks and forwards along the branoh till the bark is completely tied down close, and only the leaf and bud exposed. Afl the weather at this time is often very hot, it is a good plan to tie a bunch of Joose moss over all and water the moss occasionally the first few days, because it keeps off the burning sun, even if dry, and greatly preserves the newly disturbed bark. It will be easily seen that the quicker this operation is performed the better, because if the sap of the bud or that of the raised bark have time to dry, the union of the one with the other cannot be completed with any degree of certainty. They being damped immediately by the application of wet moss will hardly undo any mischief already done, so that a sharp knife, a clean cut, and rapid action are necessary, and can hardly fail. If the bud is cut out of the branch too thick, and too much wood is taken out with the bark and bud, the wood ought to be cut thinner or pulled out from the bark of the bud altogether ; but there is danger in taking out the wood, for it will occasionally bring out the germ of the bud with it. The effect of this would be that nothing would indicate outside what was wrong, but the bud would not grow. It would look as green, as fresh, and as completely united as if the germ were there. On this account we would recommend that the little bit of wood on the inside of the bud be allowed to remain. This operation should be carried through all the stocks, and if you have plenty of buds on each of them a nice head will be formed in a short time. As soon as the buds commence to grow freely the ties should be unloosed and allowed to fall off by degrees. At this period the remaining part of the branch of the stock should be closely cut back to the rose bud, and all attempts made by the stock to throw out branches should be checked in the bud by the careful removal of the young growths as they appear.