118 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



Points to be Observed in Grafting. The main object in grafting is to 

 properly join the scions and the stock. The point of junction should 

 be the cambium layer, or what is commonly called the inner bark. 

 If a cutting of a vine is cut off smoothly and placed in the ground, 

 the callus soon begins to form at the lower end. This callus, which 

 is seen to exude from the green layer between the hard wood and 

 the bark, is fed by the sap in the cutting descending through the 

 cambium layer and forming new cells at its free end. If this callus 

 joins a similar callus of the cambium or green layer of the stock, the 

 two calluses unite and form together a new vine, in which the top 

 consists of the new scion and the root of the old vine. The junction 

 of the two is the place where the cambium surface of the scion met 

 the cambium of the stock. In the scions, the cambium lies very close 

 to the exterior layer of the cutting, the bark here being very thin, 

 while in the old stock the cambium is situated many times deeper in, 

 the outer layer or the bark being very thick. It is not necessary that 

 the cambium layers of the two should meet or join all along the cut 

 surface, and a few points of contact and junction is sufficient, although 

 it is better to have as large a junction surface as possible If the two 

 cambium layers do not meet, the scion will not grow, or, as it is 

 called, take. The scions must be dormant when being grafted, and, 

 if their buds have begun to swell, they will probably not take, or at 

 least success is less certain. In order to keep them dormant they 

 should be cut early in winter, and then be buried in cool and only 

 slightly moist earth, either in a cellar or on the north side of a house, 

 where the sun and heat will not strike them and cause them to start 

 their buds. If the callus should form, or even root, the callus and 

 roots may be cut away without great injury to the cuttings. If the 

 cuttings are dry, they should be soaked for a few hours in tepid water, 

 and afterwards buried in moist sand. This treatment is often useful 

 for imported cuttings which have been injured in transit. They 

 often recover vigor wonderfully fast, and should never be given up 

 for lost as long as there is any green-colored cambium left, in which 

 the sap may again be brought into circulation. 



Various Methods of Grafting. The general way to graft is to graft 

 on old stocks. Vines of one variety are thus changed into the variety 

 we wish to grow, and from which the scions are taken. The first step 

 is to dig away the soil from the vines down to the first roots, which 

 should be done by a separate gang of men. Next the stocks are 

 sawed off horizontally at the first roots, or say from four to six inches 

 below the surface of the soil. This should also be done by separate 

 hands so as to insure rapidity and skill in the work. Some grafters 

 saw off the stocks somewhat slanting, so a ito cause them to shed the 

 sap which always exudes from the stump. Next in order comes the 

 splitting of the wood of the stock and the insertion of the grafts. 

 This requires care and skill, and should not be done by careless hands. 

 The splitting of the stock is done in several different ways, and to 

 accomplish it we can either use a knife and a wooden mallet or a hand- 

 saw. If the former is used, the knife must be sharp and thick, so as 

 to stand the blows of the mallet. Some growers even use a sharp 



