PROPAGATION. 



33 



Grafts have been shrivelled and spoiled by mistakenly placing 

 dry cotton batting among them before thus encased. To 

 send grafts in larger quantities, or by " express," pack them 

 in alternating layers of fine, slightly damp moss. It is always 

 important, whether packing grafts for keeping or for distant 

 conveyance, to preserve the natural moisture precisely, and 

 no more. If the packing is too wet, they will become water- 

 soaked and rot. 



Grafts which have become dry may be restored if the 

 moisture is applied so gradually that 

 its absorption may require several 

 weeks, by burying them as above 

 stated. 



The following figures represent 

 the two most common modes of 

 grafting fruit-trees: Figs. 41 to 44 

 representing successive stages of 

 whip or tongue grafting, from the 

 sloping cut of the scion and stock, 

 to the completion of the operation by 

 the covering with the wax plaster. 



Whip-grafting may be employed 

 for large as well as small stocks. In 

 order that the line of separation be- 

 tween the bark and wood may coin- 

 cide in both, unless the graft be as 

 large as the stock it must be placed 

 at one side (Fig. 45), a, sloped and 

 tongued for the reception of the graft, 

 b, their union being represented by 

 Fig. 46. To facilitate the wrapping 

 of the wax plasters, one side and the 

 upper point of the stock are pared off with a knife, before the 

 two are joined, as shown by the dotted line. This is a good 

 mode of grafting any stocks not over three-fourths of an inch 

 in diameter, in the nursery row. 



Fig. 47 shows a stock cut off for cleft-grafting, with the 



upright cleft separated by the grafting-chisel ready for the 



graft; Fig. 48, the graft cut wedge-form to fit it; Fig. 49. 



the graft in its place, and Fig. 50 shows a cross-section illus- 



3 



FIG. 45. FIG. 46, 



Whip-grafting Large Stocks. 



