Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. VIII St. Louis, Mo., May, 1920 No. 5 
GRAFTING THE MANGOSTEEN BY INARCHING 
One of the most important methods of plant propagation 
is by grafting. Various methods have been devised, such as 
budding, whip graft, saddle eraft, cleft sraft, root graft, 
veneer graft, etc., to meet special requirements. 
Budding.—The budding operation consists of inserting a 
detached bud underneath the bark of the stock at a time when 
the bark peels, usually during August or September. The 
buds are cut off to include a shield-shaped piece of the bark. 
In preparing the stock for the reception of the dormant bud 
a T-shaped incision is made through the bark, the crosswise 
cut being made first. The operator then opens the eut por- 
tion of the bark, pushes the bud within the cleft, and secures 
it with a raffia binding. After the union has taken place, 
which is usually in about two or three weeks, the raffia bind- 
ing is removed so as not to restrict the swelling of the stock. 
Grafting.—Grafting is accomplished by inserting a por- 
tion of a selected plant into another in order that it may ob- 
tain the vigor of the stock plant and produce flowers and 
fruit more abundantly. The operation is performed in the 
spring with dormant scions. It is employed especially for 
multiplying or perpetuating certain varieties of woody plants 
that do not reproduce from seeds or come true from seeds, 
as, for example, apples, pears, ete. It is one of the oldest arts 
of plant craft. Pliny describes a cleft graft, giving the pre- 
cautions that the stock ‘‘must be that of a tree suitable for 
the purpose,’’ and the graft must be ‘‘taken from one that 
is proper for grafting; the incision or cleft must not be made 
in a knot’’; the graft must be from a tree that is ‘‘a good 
bearer and from a young shoot’’; the graft must not be 
sharpened or pointed ‘‘while the wind is blowing.’’ 
Inarching.—Grafting by approach or inarching is the latest 
and most satisfactory method for perpetuating selected woody 
plants of tropical types. An important factor is that the 
operation may be performed almost any time during the grow- 
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