THE GRAFT 



27 



ary, or March will give compact blooming plants for the 

 next winter; and thereafter new ones take their places. 

 Fig. 37. 



68. THE HARDWOOD CUTTING. Best results are secured 

 when the cuttings are made in the fall and then buried 

 until spring in sand in the cellar. These cuttings are 

 usually 6 to 10 inches long. They are not idle while they 

 rest. The lower end calluses or heals, and the roots 

 form more readily 



when the cutting 

 is planted in the 

 spring. But if the 

 proper season has 

 passed, take cut- 

 tings at any time in 

 winter, plant them 

 in a deep box in the 

 window, and watch. 

 They will need no 

 shading or special 

 care. Grape, cur- 

 rant, gooseberry 

 and poplar readily 

 take root from the 



hardwood Fi? 38 ^' ^ ar ^ winter geranium, from a spring cutting. 



shows a currant cutting. It has only one bud above the 

 ground. 



69. THE GRAFT. When the cutting is inserted in a 

 plant rather than in the soil, we have a graft ; and the 

 graft may grow. In this case the cutting grows fast 

 to the other plant, and the two become one. When the 

 cutting is inserted in a plant, it is no longer called a 

 cutting, but a cion ; and the plant in which it is inserted 

 is called the stock. Fruit trees are grafted in order that 

 a certain variety or kind may be perpetuated. 



