Angnst 12, ! 



JOUENAL OF HORTICITLTTJEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



119 



in part with the foUowmg varieties, all of "which have been found to 

 stand well under this treatment — viz., 

 Canna zebrina 



zebrina coccinea 



picturata fastuosa 



peruviana 



limbata, now o feet high, 



four winters oat 

 nepalensis 

 Sellowii 

 grandis 

 The Hnds of Canna named below, 



Canna rubra superbisBima 



iioribnnda 



aurantiaca splendida 



Annei rosea 



indica rubra 



grandiflora tioribuntia 



"Warscewiczii 



Madame Anntle 



expansa 

 having very fleshy succulent 



roots, have not stood so well; the beds, of which they formed part, 

 Itave required to be made ^ood to some extent, and they cannot, there- 

 fore, be relied on for out-door winter work — viz., 



Canna edulifi 

 discolor 

 Tobusta 



Canna me tallica 

 gigantea 

 nervosa 



nigricans 



Erytseina. — Two round beds, each 9 feet in diameter, and one 

 oblong bed, 42 feet by 5 feet, have stood out last winter uninjured, 

 iucludang 



Erythrina omata 

 Marie Bellauger 



lanrifolia 

 crista-galli 



Erythrina profaea 



Madame Bellanger 



ruberrima 



Hendersonii 



The continental hybrids of these showy Coral Trees were expected to 

 jHTOve very tender; ail the varieties, however, are growing very luxu- 

 riantly, and abundance of flowers is looked for. Only one plant in 

 the three beds has sustained any injury, and this through field mice 

 eating the bark. 



Akalia papykiteka. the Chinese Eice-paper plant, is very justly 

 regarded by many as one of the very finest omamental-foliaged plants 

 used in subtropical gardtniug. This plant, in a bed 13 feet in dia- 

 meter, attained 5 feet lii^h from cuttings struck in the spring of 1S68. 

 The plants were left out last winter, and although killed to the ground, 

 the thick fleshy roots have this season produced numerous strong shoots 

 or suckers. These are produced iiTegularly, and require to be thinned 

 out, so as only to retain a crop ; and a few spaces have required filling 

 up to render the bed complete. 



Arat.ta StEBOLDH. — This differs from the foregoing in habit and 

 appearance, and is of equal merit as a fine-foliaged plant ; indeed, it 

 13 more valuable from its proving quite hardy, which we may be justi- 

 fied in stating after five winters' trial. 



EcHEVERiA SECCNDA GLAUOA. — This Mesican sacculent, useful for 

 the margins of beds and other purposes, is more hardy than is generally 

 supposed. Having heard last year from Mr. Rogers, gardener at Bury 

 fiill, Taplow, that it had borne 22^ of frost the previous winter with 

 Imn, a margin of one of the circular beds at Battersea was left out 

 laet winter. The plants on the southern half of the bed were unin- 

 jured, while every plant on the northern side was killed. 



SoLA^fCii LACiNiATUM ELEGAKS. — This elegant-foliaged plant has 

 borne the past winter, and is now producing its neat pale blue flowers. 

 This Ppecies, together with S. betaceum and S. pyracanthum, bears the 

 winters at Rose Hill, Exeter, and, although sometimes killed to the 

 ground, seldom fails in shooting up from below. In the same garden 

 at Rose Hill, Cannas are grown out of doors, and never taken up in 

 winter, except for the purpose of thinning and re-aiTanging the roots. 



I must now conclude these remarks with the enumeration of the 

 following plants, which have held their place out of doors last winter, 

 and although not of sntneient importance to demand each a separate 

 notice, are, nevertheless, useful adjuncts in subtropical arrangements 

 — Tiz., Gunnera manicata, Polymnia macnlata, Polymnia canadensis, 

 Hibiscus palustris, — J. GrBsox, Battersea Parle. 



VAPJOUS METHODS OF GRAFTING. 



WITH AN ATTEMPT TO DtQCIEE INTO THE INFLUENCE WHICH THE 

 STOCK EXEBCISES UPON THE SCION, ANT) tnCC VCrsd. 



" You see, sweet maid, we marry 

 A gentler scion to the wildest stock. 

 And make conceive a bark of baser kind 

 By bud of nobler race : this is an art 

 Which does mend nature, change it rather ; but 

 The art is nature." 



By the above quotation from " The Winter's Tale," it would appear 

 that Shakespeare (whose profound knowledge of human life in all its 

 phases has been, and will long continue to be, the wonder and ad- 

 miration of succeeding generations of mankind;, was by no means 

 Ignorant of the art of grafting. It is even reasonable to suppose that 

 he would hardly have written the above lines had he not practised 

 this art himself, or, at least, been thoroughly conversant with, and 

 fully aware of, the desired objects for which the operation is usually 

 performed. This art would, indeed, appear to bo of the greatest an- 

 tiqnity, and the date of its discovery, like the name of its earliest prac- 

 titioner, is hidden in the mists of countless ages. The practice is 

 alluded to in Holy Writ, and Pliny and other ancient writers have 

 also referred to the subject. In some of their writings fabulous de- 



scriptions are given of extraordinary fruit trees bo grafted as to pro- 

 duce sundry and very dissimilar kinds of fruit, such as Apples, Plums, 

 Figs, Grapes, &c., upon the same tree ; but it will readily be supposed 

 that if any such trees ever existed, they must have been produced by 

 similar means to that said to be sometimes resorted to on the Continent 

 at the present day, where trees are occasionally produced and offered 

 for sale, on which appear to be growing the Orange, the Myrtle, the 

 Pomegranate, &c., all upon one stem. All this, however, as may 

 be supposed, is merely a deception, accomplished by boring out the 

 centre of the stem of the largest variety used, and drawing the smaller 

 stems of the other sorts through the hollow tube thus formed, each 

 individual plant retaining its roots, and in this state a struggling 

 existence is supported for a time. By the adoption of similar means 

 the Strawberry plant has been represented as growing from the stem 

 of a Rose tree. This, too, is accomplished by taking the runner through 

 the Rose stem, which had previously been hollowed out for the purpose, 

 while the roots occupy the same soil as that in which the Rose tree is 

 growing. 



It may, I think, be reasonalde to suppose it possible that nature or 

 accident may have first sugcrested the practice of grafting, as instances 

 are frequently to be met with in woods and thickets where branches of 

 trees happen to cross and press upon each other ; and the friction 

 caused by the action of the mnd in time displaces the bark, and as 

 the branches increase in strength this friction is resisted and the 

 pressure increased until the result is a permanent and organic union. 

 This may be considered as grafting by approach, a practice which cul- 

 tivators have imitated in the method known as inarching. 



Various modes of grafting are practised, all of which under certain 

 circumstances have their respective advantages, but of these methods 

 the limits of this paper will only allow me to glance at those which 

 are found to be the most applicable to general purposes; and many 

 other so-called methods may be considered as merely modifications of 

 them. 



In all methods of grafting it is of the greatest importanco that 

 similar parts should be placed as much as possible in contact with 

 each other, and on this account the method known as Saddle-gilvfting 

 may be considered amongst the best, as presenting the largest possible 

 surface to receive the ascending fluid or sap. This method, however, 

 does not appear to be so generally practised as might be expected — 

 possibly on account of time being required to perform the operation, 

 and it is also necessary that the stock and scion should somewhat 

 nearly coiTespond in size. In performing the operation the stock must 

 be cut into the form of a sharp inverted wedge ; the scion split up the 

 middle, and its sides pared down until it exactly fits the stock. By 

 this method the leading shoots of Conifers and other trees can be 

 grafted with great facility, performing the operation while the wood is 

 only partially ripened, and this will usually be found to be the case 

 about the middle of August. 



Whtp-geatting is probably the commonest method of grafting, and 

 that by which fruit trees, such as Apples, Pears, &c., are nsnally 

 increased. The modus operaiuti is to head or cut down the stock to 

 within 2 or 3 inches of the ground, a piece is then sliced from the side 

 of the stock, and the scion is similarly sliced. An oblique cut is made 

 near the upper part of the stock, and a con-esponding cut is made in 

 the scion, forming what are called tongues, and these fit into each 

 other. The barks of the scion and stock are carefully adjusted; they 

 are then bound together, and clay or grafting- wax applied, to which the 

 soil is usually drawn until all is covered except the scion. 



Crown-gpjjfting is usually resorted to in the case of aged trees, 

 when it becomes desirable to change the variety. This mode of graft- 

 ing is performed by cutting the stock horizontally across at the desired 

 height, then cutting through the bark in a vertical line or lines, in 

 number according to the size of the stock, slightly raising the bark, 

 introducing the prepared scions between the wood and the bark, with 

 their cut sides fitting to the wood, binding all together tightly, and 

 applying grafling-clay in the usnal manner, 

 j Cleft GF.AETING is performed by cutting the stock horizontally 

 across, and making a vertical cut to the depth of 2 or 3 inches. In- 

 troduce a wedge to keep the cleft open until the scion is fitted in, when 

 the wedge must be withdrawn, a bandage applied, and the parts covered 

 with clay or p-afting-wax. 



SiDE-GPu^TiNG is practised in cases where it is not expedient to head- 

 down there stock, but where it is desirable to keep up or to restore the 

 regularity of the branches or fruit spurs. Choose scions in fonn some- 

 what arched or bent, cut the lower part in a long slant, and in those 

 parts of the stock where it is desired to produce a branch or spur, cut 

 a horizontal notch penetrating the wood to some extent, From this 

 notch downwards make a vertical incision some "3 inches in length, 

 pecetrating to the wood ; slightly raise the edges of the bark and in- 

 troduce the scion, with the cut surface nest to the wood of the stock ; 

 then bind carefully round, and apply grafting-wax or clay. 



SHIELD-GR.4FTING OP. BuDDiNG. — This method is 60 universally 

 understood and practised, that to attempt to minutely describe the 

 operation would be a waste of time. By this method many sorts of 

 fruit trees, Roses, &c., are increased, and it may be successfnlly prac- 

 tised from the beginning of July until the end of September. Moist 

 and sunless weather, however, is most conducive to the success of the 

 operation, which is performed as follows : — Take a young shoot — that 

 is, a shoot of the current year, of the variety intended to be budded, 

 having visible buds or eyes in the axils of the leaves ; cut off the 



