738 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



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I A Lesson on Grafting and Budding | 



I Being One of a Series of Lessons of a Home Study Course on Gardening Appearing Regularly in The Gardeners' Chronicle | 



I Under the Direction of ARTHUR SMITH | 



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PROPAGATION by causing a portion of one plant to grow 

 upon another, wliatever may be the form which the opera- 

 tion takes, is collectively known as Graftage. 

 It may be said that graftage is never employed for the propaga- 

 tion of the species itself because seedage and cnttage are quicker 

 and cheaper. Its use is to perpetuate and multiply that which 

 does not reproduce itself from seeds and which it is not advan- 

 tageous or profitable to grow from cuttings. Graftage may be 

 looked upon as a secondary operation, because the stock, or plant 

 upon wliich the operation is performed, must first be produced 

 from seed or from cutting, and this stock is then grafted with the 

 desired variety. 



The term grafting is generally restricted to propagating by 

 the use of short shoots, known as cions, and budding to the use 

 of single buds. 



Undoubtedly grafting is one of the oldest of the arts of plant 

 culture, and it is alluded to as a common practice in the most 

 ancient writings. It is probable that this art was held more or 

 less a professional secret in the ancient world, but the ancients 

 have left us abundant testimony that it was employed with success. 

 Plinv describes some methods of grafting, and gives several pre- 

 cautions which today should never be lost sight of. The stock 

 must be "that of a tree suitable for the purpose." and the graft 

 must be "cut from one that is proper for grafting"; from a tree 

 "that is a good hcurcr. and from a young shoot." "A graft should 

 not be used that is too full of sap, no by Hercules ! no more than 

 one that is dry and parched," and so on, thus illustrating the fact 

 that most of our current practice has its roots deep in the distant 

 past. 



Graftage consists in placing together a portion of two plants 

 having a living cambium ring, in such a way that their cambium 

 cells are maintained in intimate contact. While the growth 

 processes immediately involved in budding and grafting are well 

 understood, all of the relations between the stock and the inserted 

 part are not so clearly defined. The important principle, so far 

 as growth is concerned is to unite the cambium of the stock vv'ith 

 that of the cion or bud. When held firtnly in contact by grafting 

 wax or tying inaterial the cells of the two individuals thus united 

 develop a callus, effecting a close union and wood is subsequently 

 laid down by each contributing part, cementing this union com- 

 pletely. Plants which do not have a cam])ium ring cannot be 

 grafted successfully. 



If the operation is successful, growth will unite the two parts, 

 and plant processes will go on much as if the parts had never 

 been separated. 



The more intimate the contact of the cambium in the parts 

 brouglit together and the less injury their cells sustain throughout 

 the operation, the more likely are they to unite. 



In general, a union so intimate as to insure the life of the cion 

 or bud is only possible when the plants are related. 



In plants capable of being grafted or budded it will ordinarily 

 be found that different varieties of the same species invariably 

 unite: plants of different species of the same genus often unite; 

 examples, pear can be worked upon the quince, peach on plum. 

 Plants of different genera in the same family sometimes unite, as 

 the pear upon hawthorn and the syringa upon privet. But plants 

 belonging to different families rarely unite, and in any case the 

 union is never permanent. 



An apparent close connection between plants of different genera 

 is not always a criterion that they will unite, as for example, the 

 peach and the apricot do not readily join together, but both unite 

 freely upon the plum, which dift'ers from both much more than 

 these differ from each other. 



Another peculiarity which is manifested in graftage is that 

 while many plants freely unite in one direction they will not do 

 so in the opposite ; thus, most pears unite freely upon the quince, 

 but the latter does not do so upon the pear ; orchard cherries unite 

 easily with the wild mahaleb cherry, while the latter rarely, if 

 ever, unites when worked upon the former. 



The ways or fashions of grafting are very numerous. Thus 

 Thouine in his Moiiographie dcs Griifcs. describes one hundred 

 and nineteen kinds of grafting, and neary fifty methods have been 

 described by modern American writers. In all methods the under- 

 lying principle is the same in every case, and the operator may 

 fashion the method of union to suit himself if only he apply cam- 



bium to cambium, make a close, air-tight joint and properly pro- 

 tect the work. 



All kinds of graftage may be classified into three groups: 

 (1) bud-grafting, or budding; (2) cion-grafting, or what is 

 usually thought of as grafting proper, and (3) grafting by ap- 

 proach, or inarching. 



Most people connected with gardening in its widest sense and 

 who follow the various — sometimes antagonistic — opinions set 

 forth by writers in the horticultural press, especially if those of 

 various countries are compared, are aware that from time to time 

 there have been expressions of opinion that graftage is both in- 

 jurious and devitalizing to plants. It must be admitted that the 

 prejudice andainst graftage was stronger in this country, as well 

 as in other parts of the world, fifty years ago than it is today. 

 Like almost, if not quite, every thing else, graftage may become 

 in evil if misused or abused. In the case of ornamental plants 

 especially, grafting may be very pernicious. Fortunately, owing 

 to the new quarantine law we are no longer troubled with Holland 

 grown Rhododendrons which were grafted upon the tender poti- 

 ticiuii stock, with the result that they died out sooner or later. 

 One or two nurserymen are now using the native maxiinuiii stock 

 upon which to graft hybrid Rhododendrons which is a great bless- 

 ing to those interested in hardy plants. Other plant raisers in 

 this country are wisely discarding grafting in this connection en- 

 tirely and are propagating by cuttings, and the more this latter 

 method is followed where possible, the better. Another example 

 of the misuse of graftage is that of working the syringa (lilac) 

 upon privet, a practice which has, however, been discarded by the 

 better class of nurserymen. Wherever it is possible without 

 deteriment to the object in view, plants should always be grown 

 from cuttings rather than grafted, as in the case of cuttings, 

 growth from the roots is always the same as the top, and there- 

 fore any accident to the latter can generally be renewed from the 

 former. Amateurs and those who do not employ a professional 

 gardener should invariably have roses upon their own roots 

 rather than budded. This will avoid trouble from growth coming 

 up from the stock, and the roses will not be so liable to die out, 

 although very frequently the latter is caused by faulty planting, 

 and want of care. 



\\ hile grafted and budded plants should be avoided when pos- 

 sible, there are, however, certain ends which can only be ob- 

 tained by the graftage method of propagation. 



It can be used to change the character of a plant. Thus it is 

 the means of producing dwarf fruit trees by grafting the apple 

 upon the paradise stock and the pear upon the quince ; this dwarf- 

 ing enables these fruits to be produced in a small area and causes 

 the trees to bear earlier. 



It can be the means of overcoming adverse soil conditions. 

 Plums, for instance, do not do well upon very light soil but they 

 will thrive upon it when grafted upon the peach. The peach does 

 better upon heavy soil when grafted upon the plum ; the latter 

 method will also prevent the ravages of the peach borer. In cliinatic 

 where the peach is not hardy, the mountain ash is sometimes used 

 as a stock for the plum upon light soils. 



Modifications in llavor of fruits and their period of ripening 

 may also be brought about by graftage. It may frequently be 

 used as a means of increasing a plant's hardiness and of adapting 

 a variety of species to an adverse climate. For instance, the ex- 

 treme hardiness of the Oldenburg apple is made use of as a stock 

 upon which to graft more tender varieties. In this case double 

 grafting is performed. The Oldenburg being first put upon the 

 ordinary crab or seedling stock and then the desired variety 

 worked upon the Oldenburg. 



It is thought that graftage sometimes increases the size of 

 fruit, an example being that dwarf pears upon quince produce 

 larger fruit than when grown as standards upon pear stocks. 



The flavor of soine fruits is undoubtedly influenced by the stock 

 used in grafting, this is especially noticeable in the case of apples 

 which are much more acid when worked upon the Siberian crab 

 or ordinary wild crab than upon either seedling apple or upon 

 paradise stocks. Some pears, notably the Angouleme, are much 

 improved in flavor when grafted upon the quince. 



Old orchards that have been allowed to grow in such a way that 

 spraying and fruit gathering are almost impossible, or which con- 

 tain poor varieties, may he entirely renovated by heading in the 

 {Contitiucd on page 740) 



