562 Juuriuil of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Sept., 1917. 



inserting it, so that its apex or point will be a shade too far in, and the 

 broad or upper part will be a little too far out. The cambium sections 

 will then intersect one another in the central portion on both sides of 

 the front of the graft. Suich a cant must, of course, be exceedingly 

 slight, otherwise the cambium sections will meet along too small a 

 length; the greater the extent of their junction the more perfect will 

 the ultimate union be. 



Needless to say, the cambiums must meet on both sides of the front; 

 a graft knitted on one side only never proves satisfactory. If the cleft 

 be oblique, the scion must -be trimmed accordingly; after a few trials a 

 novice will find little difficulty in securing a perfect fit. 



As regards the back of the graft matters are very different; it is 

 only in the special case when stock and scion are of equal diameter, 

 that cambiums can be made to meet both at front and back. If this 

 be possible, four cambium sections will coincide and a very perfect union 

 will result, almost equal to that of a whip-tongue graft. In the great 

 majority of cases, however, the stock is larger than the scion, and 

 knitting is only possible at the front of the graft ; in spite of this draw- 

 back, quite satisfactory and durable unions are usually obtained. Figs. 

 3 and 4 will give an idea of the manner in which a cleft graft usually 

 knits. When viewed from the front (Fig. 3) a neat union is to be 

 seen, but the appearance from the back (Fig. 4) is less satisfactory; 

 sometimes it is almost alarming, more dead than live tissue being in 

 evidence. As time goes on new tissues are formed abundantly, and 

 after a year or two the appearance of the union will b© vastly different. 

 Stock and scion then appear to be almost continuous, the proportion 

 of dead tissue at the back of the graft being quite small in proportion 

 to the now greatly enlarged stem. The scar at this point, though still 

 noticeable, is small and really less objectionable than would be the one 

 caused by the suppression of a large arm on ar^ old vine. It is evident 

 that the smaller the stock when grafted, the smaller will this scar be on 

 the full grown vine; this, in fact, constitutes one of the chief arguments 

 in favour of grafting young stocks. 



Binding and Staking. 



A skilfully executed graft, especially if an opportune knot be situated 

 at the bottom of the cleft, requires no binding. Nevertheless it is safer 

 to tie; a couple of turns are made ai"ound the completed graft with the 

 two long ends of the twine used to prevent splitting when the cleft was 

 made, and the whole is securely tied up. Novices are inclined to use 

 too much sti4ng, winding it round so as to form a continuous bandage 

 about the graft; this interferes with callus formation, and is therefore 

 undesirable. Four strands — the clove hitch previously mentioned, and 

 two additional ones to bind the graft — are all that are really necessary. 

 The strands should not touch one another, but should be a slight 

 distance apart. 



Grafting wax and similar preparations are not only unnecessary, 

 but injurious. They hinder rather than promote callusing, which is 

 favoured by moderate aeration; no better medium can be provided than 

 the mound of loose soil which will presently be described. Formerly, 

 it was customary to plaster the graft with well kneaded wet clay, of the 

 consistency of soft putty ; sometimes this was mixed with cowdung. Such 

 treatment, although it does not help knitting, may, in a wet season, 



