Safe dog keeping during festive time

Festivals bring in a lot of joy and celebration. In the midst of all these promp and show, we sometimes forget about the safety of our canine friends, which becomes all the more important during this time. As you are aware, dogs hear so well.

They can differentitate between the noises of engines of two cars of same make and prick their ears when their master’s car arrives - a feat impossible for most of us. They can hear about 40 times better than us.

So now we know, our canine friends can hear the noises or sounds beyond our capacity and have a very wide spectrum of hearing. They can be greatly startled by the noise of crackers burnt long distance away. We all should behave responsibly and avoid the noisy crackers completely.

Festival fears

What disturbs our pets mostly is the loud music. As common sense prevails what troubles humans is hell for pets. There are loudspeakers everywhere during festive season, which contribute to the heavy sound pollution. These are the circumstances that need to be controlled.

I have seen cases of dogs hiding as noise levels become higher and that is very traumatic for them. Dogs tend to stray away from their homes when frightened, hence, it becomes important to ensure they are safe and secure.

Some dogs can get very nervous and try to chew on things or bite people or even their owners on the slightest provocation during such times.

I have also encountered cases of dogs attacking live crackers trying to take them in their mouth, biting the crackers and getting burnt in the process.

Always remember that crackers can cause fear, aggressing or mental depression in dogs, so keep your pet monitored at all times.

I even came across a case where a puppy chewed on the ornaments kept in front of deity during worship and ‘ate’ them.

The guardians of the dogs could not understand where the ornaments disappeared until they got the puppy X-rayed. So be careful on this issue.

Feeding during festivals

Other important precautions during festive season would be regarding feeding of dogs.

F Do not give sweets or fried, spicy foodstuff to dogs as it can upset their stomach.

F Do not shift from normal feeding practices.

F Do not keep sweets in the box open as your lil’ one can eat the whole lot and get sick.

What happens during the budding process?

Manoj DISSANAYEKE

Many plants can not be successfully rooted, or rooting them could be very difficult. One of the accepted methods for propagating difficult to root plants is budding. Budding is the art of taking a single bud from the plant that you would like to grow, and slipping under the bark of a plant grown from seed. This seedling is known as the rootstock.

The rootstock must be compatible with the plant that you are attempting to reproduce. Typically Crabapples are budded onto a Crabapple seedling, Cherries onto a cherry etc. But in some cases, plants that do not even seem like they would be compatible are, and some really interesting plants are the result.

Budding is another form of grafting, except with budding you do not attach a small branch of the desired variety, you only insert a single bud under the bark of the rootstock. In budding a single bud from the desired scion is used rather than an entire scion containing many buds. Most budding is done just before or during the growing season.

It will be easier to obtain a bountiful crop if you get an insight to the budding process. This might help you in overlooking some of the errors which might occur during the practical.

The budding technique is used only for plants which possess cambium, a tissue layer under the bark, which helps with the propagating process. Such plants are dicotyledones. Monocotyledones do not possess cambium.

They do not sprout branches therefore plants like coconut, palmyra and toddy cannot be populated in this manner. Mango, jack and rose bushes which grow splitting into branches can be used for budding.

Budding is much easier, and does not have to be done in a controlled environment. Most budding is done later in the summer when the bark on the seedling slips easily. That means that when a cut is made in the bark of the seedling it can be easily pulled away from the cambium.

Unlike grafting where you use a small branch to attach to the seedling, when you bud you insert a single bud under the bark. Budding is usually done down low on the seedling, very close to the soil. You can bud up higher, but any new grow that appears below that bud must be removed because it will be identical to the rootstock and not the desired variety. The budding process is quite simple.

Just clip a branch from the tree of the desired variety, this is known as a bud stick because it has many buds that can be used for budding. The buds can be found at the base of each leaf. Look closely where the leaf emerges from the branch and you will see a very small bud.

In the fall when the tree goes dormant the leaf will fall off, and bud will remain, the following spring the bud will grow into a new branch.

When you slip that bud under the bark of a compatible seedling, it will grow the following spring just as if it were still on the parent plant, with all of the qualities of the desired variety. All most all fruit bearing and ornamental trees are grown this way.

(The writer is the Agriculture Instructor of Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya)

Flowers:

What is the meaning behind them? Azalea

Means: Take Care of Yourself for Me, Temperance,

Fragile Passion, Chinese Symbol of Womanhood

Azaleas are flowering shrubs making up part of the genus Rhododendron. Originally azaleas were classed as a different genus of plant, but now they are recognised as two of the eight sub-genera of rhododendrons - subgenus Pentanthera (deciduous), and subgenus Titsushi (evergreen).