PROPAGATION OF FRUITS. 47 



in the same way, and open the split and set it in the 

 stump, hut not perpeyidicularly — the last process, perpendicu- 

 lar, is so apt to miss taking the sap ; but if you set your 

 graft cross or quartering, you cannot miss. You will be care- 

 ful to cover it with fine earth two or three inches deep, and 

 you may depend on success." 



Root Grafting may also be successfully performed as 

 follows : 



" When you commence grafting, you have nothing to do but 

 dig around the root of the tree, in whose root you intend to 

 set — when you find a root half an inch in diameter, cut it 

 loose from its mother and raise the outer end of it a little, so 

 that you can make a split in it about an inch or more from 

 the end — then sharpen the graft just at the joint, with one 

 side a little thicker than the other, and open the split end of 

 the root — cover it even at the surface with fine earth, and it 

 will sometimes grow to the height of six feet in one Summer. 



Grafting Stone Fruits. — To be successful, the grafting 

 of stone fruits must be done very early. The cherry needs 

 to be grafted earlier than the plum, and the operation must 

 be performed on both before the buds begin to swell. The 

 peach vv'ill succeed by root grafting, if carefully done early in 

 the Spring. It may be grafted in the usual way with some 

 success. 



After Management. — In grafting, when the top of the 

 stock is off, it is best not to rub off all the suckers as they are 

 produced, and thereby thwart nature in her efforts to renew 

 the lost top. Large stocks may suffer for want of sufficient 

 top, if all the sprouts are cut off and kept off. Yet suckers 

 must not be permitted to divert too much of the sap from the 

 scions. It is best, after the scions have been well established, to 

 cut or rub off the suckers occasionally, or spurr-iuy that is, re- 

 duce a portion at a time, so that the scion may not be impov- 

 erished. Old trees, when grafted, should be deprived of all 

 suckers that croAvd or interfere Avith the scions, but small 

 twigs of the old wood should here and there be left until the 

 next year or second season. This will aid in sustaining the 

 vigor of the stock and the health and luxuriant growth of 

 the scions. 



