Budding is the art of multiplying plants by causing the leaf-bud of one species or variety to grow upon the branch of another. The operation consists in shaving off a leaf-bud, with a portion of the wood beneath it, which portion is afterwards removed by a sudden jerk of the operator's finger and thumb, aided by the budding-knife. An incision in the bark of the stock is then made in the form of a T; the two side lips are pushed aside, the bud is thrust between the bark and the wood, the upper end of its bark is cut to a level with the cross arm of the T, and the whole is bound up with worsted or other soft fastening, the point of the bud being left exposed.
In performing the operation, a knife with a thin flat handle and a blade with a peculiar edge is required. The bud must be fully formed; the bark of the stock must separate readily from the wood below it; and young branches should always be chosen, as having beneath the bark the largest quantity of cambium or viscid matter out of which tissue is formed. The maturer shoots of the year in which the operation is performed are the best. The autumn is the best time for budding, though it may also be practised in the spring. Research Budding
Abbreviations
General Information
Research Budding