nursery seedlings are in partially dormant
condition, owing to unfavorable weather or other conditions, they may be
forced into budding condition by slashing off part of the growth above
where the buds are to be inserted. In our top-working experiments this
fact was further emphasized by a windstorm which broke off many of the
sappy shoots just above where the bud was put on. Every single one of
these buds "took," though some others, just as carefully put on, failed.
The success of all the buds on the wind-broken shoots was undoubtedly
due to the forcing of the cambium growth just at the point where the bud
was inserted.

_The Scion._

Although it is desirable to have the cambium of the stock in an active
growing condition, it is quite the reverse with the scion. The reason of
this is evident, for if the scion were active, it would soon exhaust its
small supply of food and die before the union could be formed and it
could get its permanent supply of nourishment from the root. It is
desirable to have scions fresh and firm but in a quiescent condition
until pushed into activity by the growth of the stock. If, on the other
hand, the scions or buds become too dry the sap will not be able to
revive them and no union will be made.

For patch-budding, the buds may be cut from scions or bud sticks of the
present or the past season's growth. Figure 13 shows a bud stick of the
present season's growth from which the leaves have been cut. Such a bud
stick cannot be obtained until July, for before that time the bark is so
tender that it is impossible to get the bud patch off the stick without
crushing it or peeling off the cuticle of the bark. The basal buds of
the present season's growth, Figure 13, make the best buds because they
are more mature and dormant than the buds above them and as they have
shed the leaf stalk they can be tied in more easily and snugly than
those with the thick, fleshy base of the leaf stalk attached. Some
budders make a practice of cutting off the leaves ten days or two weeks
before they commence budding and leaving the scions on the trees to
ripen the buds and shed off the bases of the petioles. There is in this
way no danger of the thick fleshy leaf base decaying under the wrap and
souring and killing the buds.

Figure 14 shows budwood of the previous season's growth. This budwood
can be cut during the winter and kept over in fresh dormant condition by
being packed in damp sawdust and carried over