JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



POTATO-GEAFTING. 



[We have been applied to by " A. B. C." and others for informa- 

 tion how this is to be done, and, as is our custom, we applied 

 for it to a good authority, and the following is Mr. Fenn's 

 rejily. — Eds.] 



IVEN two sorts of Potatoes, one a smooth 

 tuber lia\'ing dwarf foliage, tlie other a Po- 

 tato of fine quality, though coarse in tuber 

 and rank in hauhn — prohibitory defects, es- 

 pecially the latter, for garden cultivation — 

 can these defects be remedied ? I answer, 

 jsGr -A. method of dwarfing the haulm and cor- 



i5§ recting the form of a coveted Potato can be 



accomphshed by grafting an eye of the coarse 

 tuber into a sort of finer outhne, thus : — 

 Take a sharp penknife, and scooii out with a circular- 

 cutting motion every bud from the finer-formed tuber, 

 and go deep enough to prevent the slightest chance of 

 any fi'agment of the eyes springing again. Force a 

 slender wooden skewer completely thi'ough the base of 

 the Potato, allowing the ends of the skewer to remain 

 sticking out from each side of the tuber about half an 

 inch ; then, upon the coarser Potato, smgle out a bud 

 having the largest siu'face of skin free from other eyes 

 suiTOUudiug it. Cut out a wedge — a shield-like shape is 

 preferable when a suf&ciency of surface can be obtained — 

 with the sharp knife, using as httle downwards pressure 

 as possible, about half au inch iu diameter, measiu'ing 

 across close to the bud, and diminishing the cuts to an 

 acute angle or angles if of a shield-escutcheon form. 

 Now, iu the disbudded tuber shce-out a corresponding 

 orifice to the shield or graft, that the latter may fit as 

 neatly as jiossible into it, and exact for depth, so that 

 the rind of the graft and that of the tuber-stock shall 

 meet on one or both sides on precisely the same level 

 with each other, for upon tliis particular liinges the 

 success of the operation. Now take a piece of strong 

 soft matting, or, what is better, cuba bast, and wind 

 it roimd to seciu'c the junction of the albiu'nuBis ; the 

 ends of the peg stickin.g out from the tuber will afford 

 facdities whilst so doing, and when tying-off at the 

 finish. Have some pots about 6 mches in diameter, with 

 good drainage, in which to plant the grafted tubers as 

 the operation is completed amongst good hght sod ; and 

 it would be well to jjlace the pots m a gi'eenhouse, or 

 some such equable temperature, because iu these delicate 

 operations it is best that Dame Natui'e should never 

 receive a check. 



ApiH and the beginning of May I consider the most 

 favourable times for grafting. By the end of May the 

 gi'afts will have made good pi'ogi'ess, and the contents 

 of the pots should then be turned out into well-pulver- 

 ised garden soil ; the cuba bast -will probably then have 

 become sufficiently decayed to allow of a careful exa- 

 mination as to whether the skins of the grafts and stocks, 

 shields and tubers, have become cicatrised and united 

 wholly or in part. No hybridisation can result unless 

 tliis is perceived to have taken place. If so, plant and 



No. 573.— Vol. XXII., New Series. 



mould according to ciistom, and watch for variations 

 of foliage, and for final results only after three seasons' 

 trials and tastings of the tubers. 



The above is " how to do it." Nevertheless, as I -write 

 upon tliis subject I cannot as yet conscientiously do so 

 dictatoriaUy for general practice. Although I have given 

 seven years' consideration to the system, it must suiSce 

 at present to say that, with me, it unfolds itself most 

 usefully to a way of dwarfing and refining into tracta- 

 bdity good though ungainly sorts. By way of further 

 illustration for your correspondents, let us consider such 

 a one to be Webb's Imperial Kidney Potato, a very white- 

 fleshed fine-flavom'ed sort, but the tubers are apt to bo- 

 come vei-y ragged and "robin-eyed" when gi'own in 

 good garden soil, and the tops then are monstrous, and 

 consequently we have here a first-rate Potato shut out 

 fi'Oiu general garden cultivation. By grafting Webb's 

 Imperial into, say, Almond's Yorkshu'e Hero, which has 

 a perfectly smooth outline of tuber, a medium haulm, 

 and withal is an excellent garden variety, my study of 

 the system would lead me to expect that a smoother 

 tnber and a dwai'fer top for the grafted Webb's Imperial 

 would be the results, with a chance of even improving 

 the quahty of the tuber, wliicli could afterwards be 

 grown in the richest soil. I have invariably succeeded 

 in thus dwarfing the fohage, though, iu nine cases 

 out of ten the effect upon the appearance and quality 

 of the tubers has been disastrous. NotwithstaniUng, I 

 have been sufficiently convinced that gi'afting docs oc- 

 casionally alter the character of the tubers by improv- 

 ing both then- form and quahty. This summer will, I 

 hope, serve to convince me that these good features are 

 permanent. 



Thus far I can recommend the practice to any physio- 

 logical searcher after trath, and I am justified in so 

 doing by success, and in considering Potato-grafting to 

 be perhaps the most valuable recent contribution to 

 the science of horticulture. I have taken every oppor- 

 tunity of explaining and exhibiting to the pubho the 

 results, and have met witli much antagonism and in- 

 creduhty, as well as a few shrieks fi'om the gardening 

 press, a'U of which I have allowed to pass by free of 

 care, for there is plenty of room for us aU to gain liy 

 positive effects ; and I would prefer to give more heed to 

 one who has tried and failed than to a thousand theo- 

 retical disclaimers. 



It is very satisfactory to find that this subject^ gains 

 advocates, and I will conclude these notes by quoting an 

 appropriate paragraph from a recent letter from a corre- 

 spondent relative to this matter. " I have been trying 

 my hand at Potato-grafting upou nine sorts of tubers, 

 and so far with success. They have been done a month, 

 and yesterday I took them out of the pots, and having 

 removed the ties, found that, with one exception, aU had 

 fii-mly united. I am working with several kinds, and 

 shall watch the restilt with mucli interest." 



I shall be glad if you will give me an opportvmity here 

 to correct a blunder' I made in notices to correspondents 

 a few weeks ago. I there recommended Paterson's Alex- 

 No. 1-23!. -Vol. XLVII.. Old Semis. 



