Chap. 24.] VARIOUS KINDS OF GRAFTING. 481 



that are grafted in the seed-plot and then transplanted the 

 very same day. If the stock used for grafting is of very con- 

 siderable thickness, it is the best plan to insert the graft be- 

 tween the bark and the wood ; for which purpose a wedge 

 made of bone is best, for fear lest when the bark is loosened 

 the wood should be bruised. In the cherry, the bark is removed 

 before the incision in the stock is made ; this, too, is the only 

 tree that is grafted after the winter solstice. When the bark 

 is removed, this tree presents a sort of downy substance, which, 

 if it happens to adhere to the graft, will very speedily destroy 

 it. When once the graft is safely lodged by the aid of the 

 wedge, it is of advantage to drive it home. It is an excellent 

 plan, too, to graft as near the ground as possible, if the con- 

 formation of the trunk and knots will admit of it. The graft 

 should not project from the stock more than six fingers in 

 length. 



Cato 20 recommends a mixture of argil 21 or powdered chalk, 

 and cow-dung, to be stirred together till it is of a viscous consis- 

 tency, and then inserted in the fissure and rubbed all round 

 it. Prom his writings on the subject it is very evident that 

 at that period it was the practice to engraft only between the 

 wood and the bark, and in no other way; and that the graft 

 was never inserted beyond a couple of fingers in depth. 22 He 

 recommends, too, that the pear and the apple should be grafted 

 in spring, as also during fifty days at the time of the summer 

 solstice, and during the time of vintage ; but that the olive 

 and the fig should be grafted in spring only, in a thirsting, or 

 in other words, a dry moon : he says also, that it should be 

 done in the afternoon, and not while a south wind is blowing. 

 It is a singular thing, that, not content with protecting the 

 graft in the manner already mentioned, and with sheltering 

 it from showers and frosts by means of turfs and supple bands 

 of split osiers, he recommends that it should^ be covered with 

 bugloss 23 as well— a kind of herb so called— which' is to be 

 tied over it and then covered up with straw. At the present 

 day, however, it is thought suflicient to cover the bark with a 



20 De Re Rust. 40. 



21 This is the onguent Saint-Fiacre of the French, and is still used to 

 protect the graft from all contact with the exterior air. 



22 "Altitudinem," as Dalechamps suggests, would appear to he a better 

 reading than " latitudinem." 23 SeeB. xxv. c. 40. 



VOL. III. x x 



