SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 335 



BUDDING THE GRAPE. 



First cut off a piece of the wood from the shoot or cutting three or four 

 inches long, with a plump bud well ripened at the middle; then cut away 

 lengthwise half the wood, taking care not to destroy the pith at the woody 

 base of the bud. Cut the ends with a sharp knife perfectly straight and 

 smooth, and then place the prepared bud on the stem of the old vine to be 

 worked over, and mark out the exact length and breadth of the piece to be 

 inserted. Cut out a part of the stem sufficient to receive the bud with close 

 fitting. Press the bud in, in firmly, and cover with clay or grafting wax. 

 Several buds of different varieties can be inserted in one vine. When the bud 

 has grown to form one leaf, the branch or vine beyond the bud should be cut 

 awav. — Fruit Recorder. 



GRAFTING GRAPE VINES. 



George Hussman, horticultural editor of the Rural World, finds the following 

 the most successful way to graft the grape : Cut the cions in autumn, just 

 after the first frost has stripped them of leaves. Keep them cool in damp but 

 not wet sand or moss. Perform the grafting either quite early before profuse 

 bleeding or else wait a month or so until the greatest flow of sap is over. Use 

 a very keen knife ; split the stock with a sharp blade, open with a wedge and 

 hammer. Large vines require a chisel for splitting. Kemove the earth from 

 the root three or four inches down, if the vine is smooth, saw or cut off its 

 stock square, cut the cion to a long wedge with two buds, press it firmly into 

 the cut, as in other grafting, and then cover the whole to the tip of the cion. 

 with fine earth pressed down. Suckers from the stock should be promptly 

 rubbed off. When the stock is small, tying may be required before covering 

 the cion with earth. 



GRAFTING WAX. 



Melt together rosin, G lbs. ; beeswax, 2 fcs. ; raw linseed oil, 1 pint. Pour 

 boiling water all around the sides of an ordinary washtub, so as to scald and 

 wet the sides so the wax will not stick, throw out the water and fill half full of 

 cold water. Pour the melted wax into this and work just as soon as cool enough 

 to handle. I think you will like this better than any tallow wax, and it is not 

 so liable to run in a hot sun. 



J. S. Woodward. 



Lockport, N. Y., March 24, 1880. 



