PROPAGATION OF THE GRAPE VINE : HOW TO GRAFT. 15 



eyes will keep fresh until midsummer, and can be used at any time 

 when required. A day or two before they are likely to be required, 

 they should be examined ; if late in spring, and the buds are slightly 

 " on the move," they are in proper condition ; if they have not yet 

 commenced swelling, place them in heat, so as to have the buds just a 

 little excited, and in such a state that, when cut through, the scion 

 may appear to be a little moist over the cut surface. 



The stock and scion being thus in condition, the operation may be 

 performed in the manner shown by fig. 6. Cut down the stock to 

 any point required, selecting, of course, some suitable part for fitting 

 on the scion not always easily to be found on old Vine stems. 

 At whatever part of the stock it may be determined to affix the scion, 

 it is necessary to leave a growing shoot and some leaves above this 

 point, for the purpose of drawing off, by evaporation, the superabun- 

 dant water, and likewise for forming, and, perhaps, drawing up 

 nourishment for the supply of the scion itself until a union is 

 formed. Vines, it may be remarke,d, have their buds wide apart, and 

 this is frequently overlooked in dealing with them. In a pruned 

 Tine, there is little or no vitality in the bit of stem that may be left 

 beyond a bud ; the vitality practically ceases at the bud, so that were 

 a graft to be put on with no bud beyond, it could not grow for want 

 of growing tissue to which it could adhere. 



The process of grafting may be performed in various ways, to which 

 it will be unnecessary to allude here. The simplest and best is that 

 represented by our figure common whip-grafting. It does not matter 

 how large the stem of the Vine may be, for, the graft being prepared, 

 a corresponding portion of the stem is made bare, the requirement 

 being to make as much inner bark to fit inner bark as possible, so that 

 the growing parts of the scion may be in the closest approximation to 

 the corresponding parts of the stock. The scion being affixed should 

 be tied on tightly with matting and covered up with some mastic or 

 grafting wax. Mastic 1'Homme Lefort is the best material we have 

 ever used, requiring no preparation. Clay and moss are objectionable, 

 for this reason, that as there is so much moisture in the house, the 

 graft, instead of forming an organic union, emits roots into the clay, 

 etc., instead of uniting with the stock. In about ten or twelve 

 days after grafting, if the operation has been successful,, the bud 

 will have grown somewhat. The shoots left on the stock beyond 

 the graft should now be checked and kept in subjection to the graft ; 

 and in about a month's time the matting and wax may be removed 

 and the shoot treated as established. 



.Vines grafted in this manner on strong stocks will grow twenty to 

 thirty feet the first season, and produce the strongest possible wood ; 

 and Vines of any size or of any age, if in a healthy condition, may be 

 so operated upon. It is a capital plan of introducing a new variety 

 into an established house. 



