44 BUDDING, GRAFTING, INARCHING, ETC. [CH. 



cracks, it should be again smoothed over so as to exclude 

 the air. 



Inarching is only another method of grafting, except 

 that in this case the graft is usually a growing plant 

 brought in its pot, close to the side of the stock on which 

 it is to be worked. A slice a few inches in length is cut 

 away from each, and the cut parts made to fit together, and 

 then bound tightly with some damp moss over it. After a 

 few weeks they will have united. The young graft may 

 then be severed from its own stem, and the old stock 

 cut away above the junction. 



Young gardeners often grow orange trees from pips ; 

 the chances are they will never bear fruit. In this case, 

 a simple method of inarching will produce happy results. 

 When a firm, healthy cutting has been taken from an 

 orange or lemon that bears good fruit, it may be placed in 

 a bottle of water standing by the stock, and the upper end 

 spliced as described above ; the moisture from the bottle 

 will support the cutting until the union has been com- 

 pleted ; the upper part of the seedling tree may then be cut 

 away, and the lower end of the cutting nipped off with a 

 scissors. 



Layering consists in making a slit or tongue from the 

 lower side of the branch of a plant, close beyond a 

 joint, while still attached to the parent, bending it (see 

 diagram) so that the branch is brought down to the 

 ground, fixing it with a forked peg, and covering it round 



