Dove-Tail Grafting.—This is a very neat and successful mode of grafting, originating with Mr. Malone, who gives the following directions for its performance. The scion is to be selected so as to have two or three buds above where the knife is to be inserted to prepare it for the operation; a slip is cut off the end of the scion, sloping it to the bottom as long as it may be decided to insert it into the stock. On each side of the cut, as far as it extends, a part of the bark is to be taken off, leaving the under part broader than the upper, on which upper or back part always contrive to leave a bud. The stock or branch to be worked is thus prepared: Being first cut off smooth and straight, two parallel slits, distant from each other nearly the width of the scion and the length of its cut part, are then made in the bark of the branch, observing particularly to slope the knife, so that the under edge of the cut next the wood may be wider than the outer edge. The piece of bark between the slits must then be taken out, separating at the bottom by a horizontal cut. The scion will then slide into the dove-tail groove thus formed, and, if the work is well performed, will fit neatly and tightly. A small quantity of the grafting-clay must then be carefully applied, securing it on with list, or any other convenient bandage, fastening it at the end with two small nails. The top of the stock should be entirely covered with clay, sloping it well up to the grafts, and should be examined often to see if any cracks or openings appear, which should be immediately filled up with some very soft clay. The proper time for performing the operation is from the beginning of April till the middle of May, or earlier if the sap is in motion. (Gardener's Magazine, Vol. VII.)
Budding.—(Fig. 60.)
Budding.—Budding is performed for precisely the same purpose as grafting, and, like grafting, it is performed in many different ways; and as long experience has ascertained the best method, namely, that of T budding, (1,) so called from the form of the two cuts that are made in the bark of the stock to receive the bud, or shield-budding, as it is sometimes called from the form of the piece of bark (2) on which the bud is seated, assuming the shape of a shield when it is prepared to be inserted within the T cut in the stock.
The only solid difference between budding and grafting is this, that whereas in grafting you insert on the stock a branch already produced, in budding, you insert only the bud. I shall proceed, in treating of this matter, in the same way that I did in the preceding article, namely, as to the season proper for budding, the choosing and preparing of the bud, the operation of budding, and the future treatment of the plant budded.
The Season for Budding is generally from the latter end of July to the latter end of August, the criterions being a plump appearance of the buds formed on the spring shoot of the same year, seated in the angle of a leaf, and a readiness in the bark of the stock to separate from the wood.
In Choosing and Preparing the Bud, fix on one seated at about the middle of a healthy shoot of the mid-summer growth—these are, generally speaking, the most inclined to fruitfulness. Choose a cloudy day, if you have a choice of days at this season, and if not, perform your work early in the morning, or in the evening. The time being proper, you sever the branch on which you find the buds to your liking. Take this with you to the stock that you are going to bud, holding the branch in your left hand, the largest end downward; make a sloping cut from about an inch and a half below the bud to about an inch above it, suffering your knife to go through the bark, and about half way into the wood, cutting out wood and all. This keeping of the wood prevents the bud and its bark from drying while you are preparing the incision in the stock, and if you wish to carry buds of scarce sorts to any distance, you may do so safely by putting their ends in water, or in damp moss, but it is always safer, as well in grafting as in budding, to perform the operation with as much expedition as possible, but particularly it is so in budding.
Operation of Budding.—Cut off the leaf under which the bud is situated, but leave its foot-stalk, (2, a,) and by this hold it between your lips, while with your budding-knife you cut two straight lines in the stock at the place where you wish to insert the bud, and this should be where the bark is smooth, free from any bruises or knots, and on the side rather from the mid-day suns. Of these lines let the first be horizontal, (1,) and let the next be longitudinal, beginning at the middle of the first cut and coming downward. Let them, in short, describe the two principal bars of the Roman letter T. You have now to take out from the bark on which the bud is, the piece of wood on which the bark is, and which has served you, up to this time, to preserve the bud and bark from drying and shrinking. But this is a nice matter. In doing it you must be careful not to endanger the root of the bud, as it is called, because in that is its existence. The bark, (if the season be proper for budding,) will easily detach itself from this piece of wood, but still it requires a very careful handling to get it out without endangering the root of the bud. Hold the bud on your fore-finger, and keep your thumb on the wood opposite; then with the fore-finger and thumb of the other hand, bend backward and forward the lower end of the shield, and thus coax the wood to disengage itself from the bark; and when you find it decidedly doing so, remove your thumb from it, and the whole piece of wood will come out, leaving you nothing but a piece of bark of about two and a half inches long, with a bud and foot-stalk of a leaf on it. If the root of the bud be carried away with the piece of wood, you will perceive a small cavity where it ought to be. In this case, throw away the bud and try another.
Having succeeded in the second attempt, now open the two sides of the longitudinal bar of the T with the ivory haft of your budding-knife, but in doing this, raise the bark clearly down to the wood, for the inside of the piece of bark belonging to the bud must be placed directly against this. Having opened these sides wide enough to receive the longest end of the bark, insert it nicely, taking especial care that its inner side be flatly against the wood of the stock. Then cut the upper end of the bark off, so that its edge shall meet precisely the edge of the horizontal bar of the T (3, a.). With your finger and thumb bring the two sides of the longitudinal bar over the bark of the bud, or rather the shield, and with a piece of well-soaked matting, begin an inch below this bar and bind firmly all the way up to an inch above the horizontal bar, taking good care to leave the bud peeping out. Bind in such a way as to exclude the air, for that is the intent of binding in this case. Tie your piece of matting on first, and wind it round and round the stock as you would a riband, taking care not to twist the matting; wind it slowly, and every time you have gone completely round, give a gentle pull to make it firm.
Future Treatment.—In a fortnight's time from the operation, you will discover whether the bud has taken, by its roundness and healthy look; and, in a fortnight after that, loosen the bandage to allow the plant to swell, and in about five weeks from the time of budding, take away the bandage altogether. In this state, the plant passes the winter, and just as the sap begins to be in motion in the following spring, you head down the stock at about an inch above the bud, beginning behind it, and making a sloping cut upward to end above its point. Some gardeners leave a piece of the stock about six inches long for the first year, in order to tie the first summer's shoot to it to prevent its being broken off by the wind. This may be well when the plant is exposed to high winds, but even then, if you see danger, you may tie a short stick on the top part of the stock, and to this tie the young shoot, and then the sap all goes into the shoot from the bud, instead of being divided between it and six inches of stock left in the other way. There are some advantages which budding has over grafting, and these I think it right to mention. In the first place, universal experience has proved that certain trees succeed much better when budded, than the same trees do when grafted, such are the peach, nectarine, apricot, plum, and cherry; indeed, the rule is, that all stone-fruits do better budded than grafted, that they are, when budded, less given to gum, a disease peculiar to stone-fruits, and often very pernicious to them. You may also, by budding, put two more branches upon a stock that would be too weak to take so many grafts, and you may bud in July when grafting has failed in March and April. The disadvantage of budding is that the trees are rendered one year later in coming into bearing than when you graft.