I worked at Kelly Brpthers Nursery in Dansville a couple summers when I was a kid ( many many years ago ) .
The "budder" would make an upside down T in the bush , slice off a bud , slip it into the incision and it would be tied in with a straight piece of rubber which looked like a piece of rubber band that had been cut . By the time the rubber rotted , the bud would have taken hold .