Until this year I had not tried budding, and have gotten into it first
of all to learn whether an ordinary laboratory cork borer is not a
usable substitute for a patch bud cutter. It seems to do very well. The
patches are small, but as an aid in tieing them in I prepared short
strips of painter's masking tape with a thin coat of a plastic grafting
wax on one side. In the center of each piece of tape is a hole just
large enough for the bud to show through. The tape is pressed on over
the bud patch, after which the usual binding with rubber strips is
applied.
The whole technic of budding is fascinating and I plan to experiment as
extensively next season as time and stock permit.