GRAFTING 193 



commence to grow. When sap is active they are ready 

 for grafting, but nurserymen graft Briers even when quite 

 dormant, and only pot them up a few weeks beforehand. 



Supposing, then, we have active stocks ready for 

 grafting. They are prepared quite easily by making a 

 V-shaped cut down the bark, the stem having previously 

 been shortened to within an inch or so from the top of 

 the pot. The scion is cut in the form of a wedge so 

 that it may fit into the V-shaped slit of the stock, the 

 object being to bring the inner bark of the scion in 

 contact with the inner bark of the stock. The scion is 

 then bound up with raffia. 



After grafting, the stocks are placed in a frame on 

 a base of ashes or sand. It is necessary that the tem- 

 perature of the frame should be not less than 8o° both 

 night and day. Some growers have the frames placed 

 over the hot-water pipes. The stocks should be well 

 watered before grafting. If this is done they will not 

 need watering for five days after they are in the frame. 

 No ventilation is given for the first six days ; after this 

 the glass light may be raised about one inch twice a 

 day for half an hour each time. The plants must be 

 looked over, and if water is needed it should be given 

 with a very small water can, so that the scion is not 

 wetted. After the sixth day the amount of air may be 

 increased daily until the fourteenth day, when the glass 

 light is left off altogether. 



In about three weeks the little plants may be put 

 out on the staging, and when roots are seen through the 

 hole in the pot they may be potted into five-inch pots 



