BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 



45 



material, where they will be cool — not frozen — and just 

 sufficiently moist to prevent shrivelling. Cions of ripe 

 wood may also be cut at the time they are used, but their 

 vitality is often weakened by the severity of the weather, 

 and their delicate tissues injured to such an extent, that 

 they will not form what is called in grafting '' granula- 

 tion," (although it is precisely the same as the callus on 

 cuttings), which fills up any small interstices that may 

 exist between the stock and cion, allowing a communica- 

 tion between. Wood of one season's growth is prefer- 

 able for cions to older (except in rare instances), and it 

 should always be firm and fully matured, and selected 

 from the most healthy and vigorous branches. As there 

 are many hundreds of different modes of grafting, I 

 shall only mention a few of the most simple, because the 

 difference between the larger part is so slight, as to be 

 scarcely worthy of a different name. 



Cleft Grafting. — This method is principally used upon 

 large stocks or on the branches of old trees. The stock 



is first cut off at the 



point where it is de- 

 sirable to insert the 



cion; it is then split 



with a large knife or 



chisel, being careful 



to divide the bark, 



and at the same time 



leave the edges 



smooth, as shown in 



fig. 10, when the 

 knife is withdrawn, the cleft may be kept open by insert- 

 ing a wedge made of iron or hard-wood. The cion (fig, 

 10, a), should be two or three inches long, bearing at least 

 two good buds. The lower end is cut wedged-shaped as 

 shown, in order that it shall fit the stock. In stocks of 

 an inch or more in diameter, two cions, one on each side 



Fig. 10. 



CLEFT GRAFTING. 



ris. 11. 



CLEFT GRAFTING. 



