CHAP. IV VILLA GARDENING 257 



be strong enough for grafting or budding any old favourite kind 

 upon, or if preferred they may be transplanted and left to fruit, 

 in the hope of getting a new and improved kind. Very many 

 good fruits have been raised in this haphazard manner. The second 

 and really scientific way woiild be to grow the trees in pots in an 

 Orchard-iiouse and fertilise the blossoms artificially, at the same 

 time taking effectual steps to keep all other agents away. The next 

 is grafting. When the stocks are as thick as one's thumb they 

 may be grafted, which is a very simple operation, requiring only 

 one thing to be borne constantly in mind — that the bark of the stock 

 and scion must meet on at least one side, or there can be no union. 

 Standard trees may either be grafted standard high, or the grafts 

 may be put on close to the ground and the stem formed of the 

 first effort of the graft. Those who have had no experience in 

 grafting may acquire dexterity in the work by practising upon 

 common trees and shrubs, in order to get the right idea of fitting 

 the two cut surfaces together. Whip-grafting is the best system 

 to adopt, and consists in cutting the head off the stock in a slightly 

 slanting direction, taking a thick slice about 1| to 2 inches long 

 from the lowest side of the stock, and fitting the graft to it by 

 cutting a corresponding slice from its side. The knife must be 

 sharp, and it is important that the stock be in advance of the 

 scion. The stock buds should be just bursting, showing that the 

 sap is in active motion, but the scion may be only just a little 

 bit on the alert. The scions should have been selected when the 

 trees were pmned in winter, and laid in half their depth in moist 

 earth in a shady border on the north side of a wall or fence. The 

 grafts should be tied in aud clayed as soon as the operation is 

 performed, and it is a good plan, where convenient, to form a ridge 

 of earth round the row of grafted stocks to prevent the clay from 

 cracking. This can be easily done when the stocks are grafted near 

 the ground. 



Budding Pear Trees is more practised now than it was years 

 ago, aud the trees originated by this method are equal, if not 

 superior to, grafted trees. The work is done in summer, when the 

 young wood is in a suitable condition, in the same manner as Roses 

 are budded. There is yet another kind of grafting, which is per- 

 formed in autumn and owes its origin to the French cultivators, 

 who are very expert in the pruning and training of fruit trees. 

 Some people say it is the climate wliicli brings them success ; but 

 that is rather Ijcgging the question, I think, though of course I 

 admit that the climate of the south of France is better adapted 

 for fruit-growing than these islands. The grafting referred to 

 consists in transferring the fruit buds from a fertile tree and 



