G R A 



G R A 



to gft the better of it, ;it least for some jcars; 

 thai they be not taken troin young luxuriant trees, 

 whose vessels are generally large, continuing to 



firodiice luxuriant slioots, and seldom prove 

 ruitful ; and that they be taken from the lateral 

 or horizontal shoou rather than the perpendi- 

 cular ones. They should be cut off fioni the 

 trees before their buds begin to swill, which is 

 mostly three weeks or a numtli before the season 

 for gratiing; consc(|ucnt!v, when they are cut 

 olf they should be laid in the ground with the 

 cut part downwards, burying iheni half their 

 length, arl covering their lops with dry liitur, 

 to prevent their drying ; if a small joint of the 

 I'ormer year's wood be cut off with the scion, it 

 will preserve it the better, and when thev are 

 giafled this may be cut off; for at the same time 

 the scions must be cut to a proper length before 

 they are inserted mllie stocks; but, till then, 

 the shoots sliould remain of their full leiioih, as 

 they were taken from the tree, which will better 

 preserve them from shrinking; when tiie scions 

 are to be carried to a considerable distance, it 

 will be proper to put their ends into a lump of 

 clay, and to wrap them up in moss, which will 

 preserve them fresh for a month or longer; but 

 these should be cut off from the trees earlier 

 than those which are to be grafted near the place 

 where the trees are growint;. It is, however, 

 always the best practice to cut the grafts as near 

 the time of their being inserted into the stocks 

 as possible. 



Slocks proper for grafting upon. — The stocks 

 are the trees or plants for grafting upon; 

 which are either such old trees as are already 

 growing w here they are lo remain, but the fruit 

 of which is intended to be changed ; or such 

 young trees as have been raised in the nursery as 

 a supply to the garden. In the former case, 

 there is no other choice than that of the 

 branches, which should be such as arc young, 

 healthy, well situated, and have a smooth bark. 

 Where these trees are growing against walls or 

 espaliers, it will be proper to graft six, eight, or 

 ten branches, according to the size of the trees, 

 by which they will be M)ueh sooner furnished 

 with branches again, than when a less rtumber 

 of shoots or scions are put in , but in standard 

 trees, four, or at most six, scions will be sutH- 

 cicnt for the purpose. 



I nchoosingyouiig stocks for erafliug upon, such 

 as have been raised from the seed, and that have 

 been once or twice transplanted, should al a ays 

 be fixed upon. 



After thise, those stacks which have been 

 raised from cuttings or layers should constantly 

 be preferred; but those which are suckers from 

 the roots of other trees should be rejected, as 



they are never so will lootcd as the others, and 

 constantly put out a great number of suckers 

 from ihe root3, by which the borders and walks 

 of the garden will be always pestered during the 

 snnnner season. These, besides being unsight- 

 ly, take off part of the nourishment from the 

 other trees and plants. 



And where these slocks have been allowed a 

 proper disi Alice in ilie nursery where thev have 

 grow n, the wood will be belter ripened and more 

 compact than those which have grown close, 

 and have been there drawn up to a greater 

 height. The wood of these will be soit, and 

 tiieir vessels large ; so that the scions grafted in- 

 to them will hhool very strong; but they will be 

 less disposed to produce fruit than the other.-.; 

 and when ln.es acijuire a bad habit at lirst it i& 

 difficult to reclaim them afterwanls. The stocks 

 most adapted to each sort will be explained un- 

 der their particular genera, and in consideringc 

 the nature of stocks. Sec Stocks. 



Implements proper for tlie u ork. — I'hese are 

 principally; a neat small /(a«£/-ia;t', foreutling 

 off the heads of large stocks; a cood strong 

 knife, with a thick back, to make clefts in the 

 stocks ; with a sharp penknife, or iudding-knfc, 

 to cut the grafts with ; and a grcfting chisel and 

 small mullet. Other sorts of insiniments are 

 sometimes necessary in performing particular 

 sorts of grafting. 



Besides these tools, other sorts of materials 

 are wanted in performing the business, such as 

 lass-strings, or aotillen-yarn, to tie the grafts 

 with ; and a quantity of good tough clay, which 

 should be prepared a month before it is wanted, 

 and kept turned and mixed, like mortar, every 

 other day, in the following niamier : 



A quantity of strong good clay, in proportion 

 to the quantity of taes intended to be irrafted, 

 should be provided, and some new well-led 

 horse-dung broken in among it ; and if a little 

 cut straw or hay be mixed among<t it, it will 

 hold together the better. The addition of a 

 quantity of salt w ill also prevent the clay from 

 dividing iu dry weather. These should be 

 well stirred together, putting water to them oc- 

 casionally, in the manner of making mortar. 

 The whole should be hollowed like a dish, filled 

 with water, and ke|)t every oiher day stirred. It 

 should be carefully kept from being exposed to 

 frost or drying winds; and the oftener it is 

 wrought over the belter. 



Some have lately made use of another sort of 

 composition for grafting, which has been found 

 to answer the intention of keepini; out the air 

 better than the clayey mixture. It is composed 

 of turpentine, bees-wax, and rosin, m('lii.d to- 

 gether ; which, when of a proper consistence. 



