88 PROPAGATION BY DIVISION. [CHAP. IV, 



gether. Of this, which is called inosculation, 

 examples in the beech, the hornbeam, and the 

 oak, are given in Mr. Loudon's Arboretum 

 Britannicum ; and it is probable that mankind 

 derived the first idea of grafting from observ- 

 ing instances of this kind. Inarching, as prac- 

 tised in nurseries, closely resembles layering. 

 A branch is bent and partly cut through, and 

 the heel thus formed is slipped into a slit made 

 downwards in the stock to receive it. The 

 parts are then made to meet as exactly as pos- 

 sible, and are bound together with bast mat, 

 and covered with grafting-clay, as in common 

 grafting. In five or six months the union will 

 be complete; and the inarched plant will be 

 ready to be separated from the parent, which 

 is done with a very sharp knife, so as to leave 

 a clean cut, and not a bruised one. The head 

 of the stock, if it was left on when the plant 

 was inarched, is then cut away, and the plant 

 is ready for removal. It is, however, customary 

 to keep on the grafting-clay and ligature for a 

 few weeks, till the plant is firmly established. 

 This mode of propagation is very commonly 

 practised in spring (generally in March) with 

 camellias (see fig, 16.), and magnolias; and it 

 is usual in nurseries to see a fine new kind of 

 camellia surrounded by a sort of frame, on 

 which are several pots of stocks of the single 

 red, placed at different heights for the conve- 

 nience of attaching to them different branches 

 of the choice kind to undergo the process of 

 inarching. In most of these cases the head of 

 the stock is retained, and the scion is intro- 

 duced at the side ; but as soon as the graft has 



