GRAFTING AND NURSERIES. 249 



inter-node; this is indispensable for Berlandieri and all 

 cepages rooting with difficulty. The upper section is made 

 3 Or 4 cm. (i to i l /2 inches) above a node we have already 

 shown why; and for the English cleft-graft the joint 

 is strengthened, the cleft being limited at the bottom by a 

 node. 



The American canes are therefore used on all their 

 length as long as the minimum diameter is not less than a 

 quarter of an inch ; one cane may in this way furnish eight to 

 ten stocks. It would, no doubt, be better to use, as in the 

 old days, the base of the cane only, where the nodes are 

 closer together; the chances of rooting would be increased 

 and the vine would be more robust; but the present high 

 price of American stock does not allow this selection to be 

 made. 



Is it necessary to bark the stock? When we have to 

 deal with cuttings of Herbemont, Solonis, Jacquez, etc., 

 which do not strike easily, yes ; for the barking facilitates 

 the penetration of the tissues by water, and, replacing that 

 constantly evaporated at the top of the cutting exposed 

 to the air, hastens the production of roots. But grafted 

 cuttings are always completely covered with soil, and. 

 consequently, no active evaporation takes place. And 

 further, on the barked part, strong pads of callus, identical 

 with the knitting tissue, appear, and they might be formed 

 at the expense of the latter. 



The usefulness of barking, really apparent for cuttings 

 having their upper part exposed to the air, does not seem 

 so evident in the case of grafted cuttings, except perhaps 

 when they have become dried before planting. However, 

 whether barked or not, the results have been practically 

 identical. 



A far more important operation is that which consists 

 in cutting off all the buds of the stock. It is not 

 sufficient to remove them with the finger-nail or to cut 

 them above the ring of latent buds ; for, in this case, 

 three or four buds burst all round, living at the expense 

 of the plant, and preventing the development of the 

 knitting tissue. Stocks bearing their own snoots have no 

 tendency to knit with the scion. 



This precaution is specially indispensable for Rnpestris 

 and its hybrids. This stock is said to give insignificant 

 strikes when grafted by the bench method ; as a matter of 



