GRAFTING BY DETACHED SCIONS. 251 



the slit of the other (c) ; then the scion is tied on with matting ( d) ; and, 

 lastly, it is clayed over (e) ; and sometimes, in addition, it is earthed 

 up, or covered with moss, to serve as a non-conductor of heat and 

 moisture. In earthing up the graft, the loose surface soil should be 

 used at the grafting season, as being drier and warmer than that which 

 is less under the immediate influence of the sun. When the scion is 

 placed on the stock with the right hand, the ribbon of bast by which 

 it is tied, is brought round the graft from right to left ; but when the 

 scion is put on by the left hand, the bast is brought round from left to 

 right; the object in both cases being to make sure of the exact coin- 

 cidence of the inner bark of one side of the scion, with the inner bark 

 of one side of the stock. The ball of clay which envelopes the graft 

 should be about an inch thick on every side, and should extend for 

 nearly an inch below the bottom of the graft, to more than an inch 

 over the top of the stock, compressing and finishing the whole into a 

 kind of oval or egg-shape form, closing it in every part, so as completely 

 to exclude air, light, wet, or cold. The ball of clay will not be so apt 

 to drop off, if the matting over which it is placed is rendered a fitting 

 nucleus for solid clay, by previously smearing it over in a comparatively 

 liquid state. This envelope of clay, with the earthing up, preserves 

 the graft in a uniform temperature, and prevents the rising of the sap 

 from being checked by cold days or nights ; and, therefore, earthing 

 up ought always to be adopted in the case of grafts in the open garden 

 which are difficult to succeed. The next best resource is a ball of 

 moss over the clay, or of some dry material, such as hay, tied on from 

 within an inch of the top of the scion to the surface of the ground, so 

 as to act as thatch in excluding rain and wind, and retaining heat and 

 moisture. When the scion and the stock are .p. . 



both of the same thickness, or when they are 

 of kinds that do not unite freely, the tongue 

 is sometimes omitted ; but in that case, more 

 care is required in tying. In this, and also 

 in other cases, the stock is not shortened down 

 to the graft ; but an inch or two with a bud 

 at its upper extremity is left to ensure the 

 rising of the sap to the scion, as in fig. 193 ; 

 and after the latter is firmly established, the 

 part of the stock left is cut off close above the 

 scion, as shown in fig. 196. When the stock 

 is not headed down till the scion is about to be 

 put on, it is essentially necessary to leave it 

 longer than usual, in order to give vent to the 

 rising sap, which might otherwise exude above 

 the scion, and occasion its decay. In the case 

 of shoots having much pith, such as those of the The scion with its young 

 rose, the scion is often put on the stock without to%J*^^ f 

 being tongued into it, as in fig. 197, in which 



the scion in the one case, a, is without a bud on its lower extremity, and 

 is therefore less likely to succeed than 6, which has a bud in that 



