PROPAGATION 195 



of each exposed, and the two stems bound together until a 

 union is formed. The top of the stock is now cut off and the 

 cion cut away from its roots. In the same way a small plant 

 in a pot may be inarched to the branches of a large tree. In 

 the forest one may often see examples of natural inarching 

 where two plants have come into contact. 



Grafting wax. To make grafting wax, take four parts of 

 rosin, two parts of beeswax, and one part of tallow or linseed 

 oil, and melt all together. When thoroughly mixed pour into 

 cold water, and, when cool enough, work it like molasses candy 

 until it assumes a light straw color. Make into rolls and wrap 

 in waxed paper until wanted. If a harder wax is desired, the 

 amount of rosin or beeswax may be increased. The hands 

 should be greased with tallow before attempting to work the 

 wax. Waxed twine for tying buds and grafts may be prepared 

 by putting a ball of No. 18 knitting cotton in the kettle of 

 melted wax for a few minutes. 



Effect of stock on cion. Usually the nature of the stock has 

 little effect on the cion, but cases are known in which apples 

 grafted on wild-crab stock have produced more acid fruits, 

 while late apples may ripen earlier as a result of grafting 

 them on stocks of earlier varieties. Certain species may be 

 dwarfed by grafting them on slow-growing stock, and the 

 time of fruiting may often be greatly modified by the kind of 

 stock and cion selected. Apples usually grow for ten or more 

 years before fruiting, but a young seedling grafted on old 

 stock may fruit in a year or two. On the other hand, a twig 

 from an old tree grafted upon a seedling may grow for years 

 before producing fruit. Many French grapes are grafted on 

 American stocks, which are more resistant to the dreaded 

 plant louse, Phylloxera, which infests the roots. Rarely the 

 union of graft and stock, may produce twigs with characters 

 that appear intermediate between the two. Such specimens 

 are known as graft hybrids. 



