Page:The Olive Its Culture in Theory and Practice.djvu/85

Rh only a small piece of the stem of one of them, to hold the shield by, between the fingers. Keep the grafts, or buds, when thus prepared, in a dark, cold, and damp place, until the time that they are required for placing upon the stock.

2d—Make an incision in the form of the letter T, penetrating to the wood, and separate with the spatula, the two lips of the bark towards the top.

3d—Separate the shield from its branch, in such a manner, as to take off with the bark, the smallest portion of the wood, preserving in every case, the green tissue behind the bud. Unless this be attended to, the success of the graft is impossible.

4th—Slip this shield into the incision, between the bark and the wood; then bring the edges of the bark together by means of a ligature, in such a manner, that the base of the bud presses closely to the wood of the stock. This is an essential point.

5th—Sometime after budding, look at the buds, and slacken the bandages if they become too tight.

6th—On the arrival of spring, if the buds have taken effect, cut off the stem or branches of the stock about three inches above the bud. This is done to stimulate the development of the bud.

7th—Cut the head of the subject grafted the following winter. The first or crown grafting, is employed on the large trees from the Esterel to Genes. In Provence, Avignon, and Gard, shield grafting is preferred. At Grasse, they graft the young trees at the age of five or six years, in spring time, when the sap mounts, and when the bark is easily detached. They choose the graft from the gourmand shoots of two years old, the wood well grown and bark smooth; selecting those in which the eyes are well marked. According to the size of the branch, or of the trunk of the tree, they place two scions judiciously. The scions having been placed, the whole is enveloped with clay, and confined with a bandage. The best time is the spring, when the trees are always large and full of branches; some branches are left ungrafted as ducts for the sap, the