260 



GRAFTING 



DETACHED SCIONS. 



Fig. 221. 



Fig. 222. 



near the root of the plant to be increased, the end of which is cut into 

 a wedge shape, and is inserted in the slit made in the stock, taking 

 great care of the leaf on the latter ; for it is that which must nourish 

 the scion until it has taken thoroughly, by keeping up the circulation 



of the sap. A bandage is applied at the junction, 

 lg> * covered with grafting wax as before. When the graft 



has taken, which is ascertained by its growth, the liga- 

 ture is removed, and also the old leaf, and the shoots 



from the stock below the graft. 



Grafting Herbaceous Shoots of Succulents (fig. 221). 



Take a young shoot, and cutting its base to a point 



or wedge, insert it in 'a hole or slit made in the stem or 



leaf of the stock. 



Grafting the Melon (fig. 222). On the stem of a 



cucumber, or any other plant of the family of Cucur- 

 Herbaceous -graft- bitacese, but having some analogy with the melon, choose 

 ing annuals or a v ig Orous par t o f a shoot having a well- developed leaf. 

 per In the axil of this leaf an oblique cut is made, of half 



its thickness. The point of a melon shoot, so far developed as to have 

 its fruit quite formed, is then cut off, and pointed at its end, two inches 



below the fruit. It is inserted 



in the cleft made in the stock, 



always taking care to spare the 



leaf until the scion has taken. 



The remaining part of the ope- 

 ration is performed in the 



usual manner, with ligatures 



and grafting wax. This mode 



of grafting succeeds pretty 



well ; but it has not hitherto 



been applied to any useful 



end. 



The greffe e*touffee, or stifled 



graft, is so named, not from any 

 particular mode of performing the operation, but because the plants 

 so grafted are closely covered with a bell-glass, so as completely to ex- 

 clude the surrounding air, and placed in moist heat, while the union 

 between the scion and the stock is going on. It is only applicable to 

 plants of small size, and in pots ; but for these, whether hardy, as in 

 the case of pines, firs, and oaks, or tender, as in the case of orange- 

 trees, camellias, rhododendrons, &c., it is the most expeditious of all 

 modes of grafting. The operation is very commonly performed in the 

 cleft mode, the stock being in a growing state with the leaves on, and 

 being cut over close to a leaf which has a bud in its axil, and so as to 

 slope away from it. Great care is taken not to injure the leaf and bud 

 on the stock, as on these, in a great measure, depends the success of 

 the operation. The stock is split to a depth equal to two-thirds of its 

 thickness, and the scion prepared is inserted, made fast with a shred 

 of mat, or with worsted threads ; and the upper part of the stock, not 



Herbaceous graft- 

 ing succulents. 



Herbaceous- grafting the 

 melon. 



