10 Oct., 1917.] Spring Grafting of the Vine. 613 



Novices who endeavour to merely pull llicm out from above are some- 

 times disaijpoiiited at finding that tlie scion has come away with a bunch 

 of suckers. Sahut recommends to first cut the suckers as far below the 

 ground as possible with a long, thin-bladed knife, in much the same way 

 that one cuts asparagus. They thus receive a temporary check, which 

 helps the knitting of tlic scion. A little later on the mound should be 

 broken <lown, and the suckers cut off fiush with the stock with a sharp 

 knife, the mound being made up again, but to a les.scr height than 

 formerly. In seasons that are not altogether suitable for grafting, re- 

 moval of suckers often entails a considerable amount of work, the grafts 

 ro(juiriiig attention not once, but several times, during the first season. 



Scion Koots. 



Mounded up, as it must be, to insure knitting, the scion is placed 

 under conditions suitable for it to send out roots of its own, and unless 

 the spring be an unusually dry one, these must always be reckoned with. 

 Their careful removal is imperative. Neglect of this is a fruitful cause 

 of failure of vines grafted on resistant stocks. Suckers are bad enough, 

 but scion roots are even worse. Suckers are an eyesore, which no care- 

 ful vine-grower can tolerate, but scion roots are below ground, and 

 hiflden from view. " What the eye does not see the heart does not 

 grieve." 



The young graft opposes a slight, but nevertheless real, obstacle to 

 the free flow of sap. The scion roots, if allowed to grow, receive more 

 elaborated sap than those of the stock, which cease to develop, and be- 

 come stunted, even if they do not die away altogether. This is clearly 

 shown in figure 8. The scion then depends entirely on its own roots, 

 which are, of course, incapable of resisting phylloxera. The objects 

 of grafting are thus nullified, and the vine ultimately succumbs, the 

 stunted resistant roots being quite incapable of responding to the call 

 suddenly made on them when the scion roots are destroj'ed by the insect. 

 To quote Bioletti — 



" If the scion is allowed to make its own roots, the return stream of nutritive 

 material takes the course of least resistance, and goes principally into the scion 

 roots. The result is that these grow vigorously, so long as phylloxera is absent, 

 and the roots of the resistant stock are starved, and finally die. This is not 

 mere theory, but is substantiated by the numerous cases where dying resistant 

 vineyards have been examined, and this condition found. This condition is par- 

 ticularly common with field gi'afted vines." 



When suckers are being removed scion roots must therefore receive 

 careful attention, and be cut off flush, with a sharp knife. A second 

 visit later on is advisable. 



Grafting a couple of inches above the surface level as already recom- 

 mended (see Journal. September, 1917, page 557) no doubt minimises 

 scion root trouble. Nevertheless, a few are usually thrown out, and 

 these must be attended to. It is not always possible, however, to graft 

 thus high. At the original planting of the ungrafted rootling novices 

 oftrn plant too deep; they forget that the soil will settle, and the stock 

 syik an inch or so. Cases may also occur when it is necessary to re- 

 graft, lower down, a stock which failed to take the previous season. Even 



