98 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



but the strongest one. Coat the surface 

 and the base of the scion with grafting wax 

 or wrap them carefully with grafting cloth. 

 The grafting wax should be just hard enough 

 to be easily worked with the hand. If large 

 surfaces are to be covered, it is well to have 

 it quite liquid so that it can be applied with 

 a brush. It, of course, has to be kept warm 

 during this time. Be sure to have sharp 

 knives, so that clean, smooth cuts can be 

 made. There must be pefect contact be- 

 tween the inner barks of the scion and 

 stock. Every portion of the split and the 

 cut surface of the scion must be covered with 

 wax to keep out rain. 



Grafting wax is made by melting together 

 2 lbs. resin, ^ lb. beeswax and ^ lb. of 

 tallow. For whip grafting, it is very con- 

 venient to use grafting cloth. Tear muslin 

 into balls like ribbon rolls and place in melt- 

 ed grafting wax until thoroughly saturated. 

 Grafting paper is quite handy and is pre- 

 pared by spreading the wax while warm 

 over one side of a sheet of paper by means of 

 a brush. When cool, cut into strips and roll. 



THE NIAGARA GRAPE 



COULD find plenty of admirers in the 

 warmer sections of our province, 

 where it ripens its fruit to perfection. For 

 example, Mr. E.Morris, of Fonthill, writes: 

 " In reply to your enquiry, I would say 

 the Niagara Grape is the best all lound white 

 grape grown in this section, and is being 

 used quite extensively for a wine grape, but 

 I do not consider it a first-class grape for 

 that purpose, as it gives the wine a foxy 

 flavor." 



GRAFTING CHERRIES AND PLUMS. 



THE above directions apply to apples 

 and pears, which may be grafted 

 quite late in the spring. Indeed, we have 

 been successful with apples as late as the 

 first of June, providing we had scions still 

 in dormant condition ; but with cherries and 

 plums more care must be taken, and the 



work must be done early in March, before 

 the sap begins free circulation. The Prairie 

 Farmer gives the following directions for 

 grafting these fruits : 



" Do the work 

 on a warm day, 

 so your wax will 

 be soft. I have 

 top-grafted 

 plums, and the 

 th e r mo m e te r 

 went down to 40 

 degrees below 

 zero afterwards, 

 and they did well. 

 Apples and pears 

 can be attended 

 to later ; I have 

 top-graited ap- 

 ples after the 

 buds had start- 

 ed, and they did 

 well. You can 

 use this kind of 

 a graft just as 

 high or low as you want. In making the 

 cions, see that there is a bud just at the base 

 of the cut. It is claimed by experts that there 

 is more life around the bud, consequently it 

 unites there first. Fig 2549 d shows how 

 the cut is made in tree and cion inserted. 

 Fig. 2549 a, shows how wound ; b, how 

 waxed ; and c, how wound with vsome old 

 muslin (white is preferred), over the waxed 

 part, to keep the sun off. It is not neces- 

 sary to wind as shown in a for top-grafting. 



" Recipe for wax : i lb. resin, i ounce 

 beef tallow, i tablespoonful spirits turpen- 

 tine, 5 or 6 ounces alcohol. Melt resin 

 slowly, take from fire ; add tallow, stirring 

 constantly. When still cooler, stir in the 

 turpentine slowly ; then add alcohol. The 

 object of the alcohol is to thin the wax so it 

 can be used. We do all of our root graft- 

 ing on cherries, plums and pears this way, 

 excepting the muslin, and use thread in 



1--1G. 



2549. Grafting the Plum 

 AND THE Cherry 



