90 Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



which will be bordered by a ring of cambium. Bring the two 

 cut surfaces together and bind them firmly. When the two 

 have united, one may be cut from the parent stock. Some- 

 times it is desirable to graft a small scion on to a larger stock. 

 The stock is cut off, the scion is pointed at the lower end and 

 thrust in between the wood and the bark. The stock is 

 prevented from drying by a covering of clay or grafting wax. 

 Drying would kill the cambium. 



Budding is a form of grafting. A single bud with a portion 

 of wood is inserted into a T-shaped opening of the stock. This 



method is used with especial 

 success with oranges, apri- 

 cots, and roses. An apple 

 will graft on to a quince, 

 but a quince does not take 

 well to a pear. A pear will 

 not grow well on an apple. 

 Professor Bailey tells us that 

 tomato-plants will grow on 

 potato stocks, the combina- 

 tion forming potatoes under 

 ground and tomatoes above. 

 When tomato plants are the 

 stocks, what will happen ? 

 If you own a rose bush, it 

 will be interesting to see how 

 many kinds of roses you can 

 bud on to one stock. Try it. 

 Budding and grafting 

 should be done when the 

 sap is active in the spring. 

 Pineapples and bananas have lost the power of forming 

 seeds. The leafy stem above the pineapple fruit readily sends 

 out roots when placed in the soil, and a new plant is grown. 

 How are banana plants propagated ? 



The mother fern, BryophyUimi., and begonias are propa- 

 gated by means of buds formed on the leaves. The stem or 

 axis of the bud lengthens, and the leaves unfold ; roots- are 



Fig. 93. — Leaf of Bryophyllinn. Little 

 plants are borne all along the edges of the 

 fleshy leaf. They send out roots, fall off, 

 and start new plants. 



