CLEFT-GRAFTING. 



CLEFT-GRAFTING is probably 

 in more general use than any other 

 kind. It is commonly performed to 



change the bearing of apple, plum and 

 various other trees 

 and plants. It 

 may be used on 

 very small branch- 

 es or stocks, but is 

 •he form that is 

 best adapted to 

 large branches. 

 The tools used on 

 stocks of larger 

 size are a sharp, 

 fine saw for cut- 

 ting off the stems 

 or branches and a 

 grafting-chisel for 

 splitting the stock 

 and holding open 

 the cleft. On 

 Fig. 1116. small stocks a 



sharp knife is used for all the purposes of 



saw and grafting-chisel. 



The work is done as follows : The 



place selected for 



the insertion of the 



scions should be 



where the grain is 



straight. The stock 



is then cut "square" 



oflf, and is split 



through its center 



to a sufificient depth 



to allow the scion 



to be put in place. 



The cleft should be held open by the 



wedge-shaped part of the chisel (a large 



nail will answer the purpose in a small 



way) until the scions are inserted, when 



the wedge is withdrawn, allowing the 



Fig. 1117. 



stock to spring back and hold the scions 

 in place. If the stock does not spring 

 back into place, it should be drawn tight 

 against the scions by a piece of string. 

 The number of scions put into each 

 stock will depend on its size, but gener- 

 ally only two were inserted, and on small 

 stocks only one. The inner bark of 

 both scion and stock should come to- 

 gether, as shown in Fig. 1118. When 

 inserted the scions should appear as in 

 Fig. II 17. The scions should be made 

 wedge-shaped for about one and one 

 half inches where they go into the cleft, 



SCION 



FlO. 1. 

 Fig. ills, 

 and also be wedge-shaped crossways, as 

 shown in Fig. 11 17, so as to bind the 

 inner bark of scion and stock securely 

 together. They should each have two 

 or three buds above the cleft. The 

 scions must be wood of the preceding 

 year's growth and no older. It is im- 

 portant to use a sharp knife for making 

 the cuts. When the scions are in, all 

 the cut surface should be covered with 

 grafting-wa.x, as in Fig. 11 16, or with a 

 ball of stiff clay and cow dung mixed ; 

 but grafting-wax is most convenient. — 

 Farm and Fireside. 



177 



