CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - Pole Shift Survival Information

126 THE NURSERY-M,4NUAL
smooth and eveu, am1 t,he bud is not too thick. Some propagators
out the buds as they go, while others prefer to cut a
whole stick before setting any, letting each
bud hang by a bit of bark at the top, and
which is cut ofi squareiy when wanted,
as is showi in Fig. 133. On a stick onefourth
or three-eighths inch in diameter the
cut, at its deepest joint just urlder the bud,
is about one-fourth the diameter of the
twig. A bit of wood, therefore, is removed
with the bud, as shown in Fig. 1311.
,.,, There is some discussion as to whethel
this wood should be left on the bud, but
no definite experiments have been made
to show that it is inju-
Fro. 137. Prt&aring thf.2 rious to the resulting
st,ock (x i). tree. ,Sonie budders
remove the wllc~od with the point of the knife
or by a deft t\-\.ist as the bud is taken from
the stick. Hut t~ic!:+ appear to live equally
well with wood attached or removed. The
bit of wood probubIy serves a useful purpose
in retaining moisture ill the bud, but at the
same time it interposes a foreign body between
the healing surfaces, for the bark of
the bud unites directly with the surface of
the stock. Probably the very >x)uIlgest
parts of the wood in the bud unite with the
stock? but. if the budding-knife cuts deep,
the denser part of the wood should be re- FIQ. 138. - Bud PIImoved
from the bud. This remark is par- t wing matrix (x 31,
titularly true, also, of all buds likely to be cut into the pith, as
in the nut-trees.
The wound or matrix that is to receive the bud is made by