ON PKORAGATING PLANTS. 197 



modern gardening in that country : "This mode of grafting," observes 

 M. Leclerc, "which I shall henceforth call the Graffs Blaikie, 

 succeeds in most plants, both of the hot-house and open air ; and it 

 seems particularly well calculated for the propagation of intertropical 

 plants and trees. The success which attends it on delicate hot-house 

 plants, and particularly on these which are hard-wooded, is very 

 difficult to be obtained by any other means. During the time when 

 the sap is in full activity, the scion must be procured, if possible, of 

 exactly the same diameter as the stock on which it is to be grafted. 



" First make two lateral oblique incisions, exactly similar, the one 

 on the stock from above to below, the other on the scion from below 

 to above, and both slooping from without towards the centre or in- 

 terior of the wood. The tongues are then cut in the form of a long 

 wedge, by stripping them of their bark. The cut parts are then re- 

 united, by taking care, as usual, to make them coincide as exactly 

 as possible. The scion being bound by ligatures lo the stock in the 

 ordinary way. The inferior part of the scion, that is, the lower, is 

 plunged in a vessel of water. It will, however, necessary to remove 

 the water from time to time, and to renew the base of the submerged 

 scion by cutting off its extremity. 



"The stock is sometimes headed down immediately after the 

 operation, in which case, particular care must be taken to leave a bud 

 or a shoot above the incision, in order to attract the sap to the place 

 where the operation was performed. Sometimes, however, the stock 

 is not headed down till after its union with the scion is completed. 



"When the plant operated on is small, and the scion of a delicate 

 species, the plant should be covered with a bell-glass to prevent too 

 great transpiration of the leaves. The air in the interior must be 

 occasionally renewed, as, without this attention, it would, by the 

 evaporation of the water, be rendered too humid. If the diameter of 

 the scion be less than that of the stock , the operation must of course be 

 different from the preceeding. In such a case, the incisions must be 

 limited simpl_y to two longitudinal ones of equal dimensions, one on 

 the scion, the other on the stock. This is the easiest and the most 

 natural mode, and also the most favourable for giving solidity to the 

 graft." 



This mode of grafting is, we think, particularly applicable to oran- 

 ges, lemons, &c, and these plants, engrafted by any of the ordinary 

 methods, that will admit of a portion of the scions being left long 

 enough to be inserted into a phial or cup of water, will facilitate the 

 operation. Some cultivators practise this mode of engrafting in this 

 country; and a variety of it may be noticed as practised by that 



