154 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



the cleft-graft (Fig. 176). This consists in cutting off the 

 stock, splitting it, and inserting a wedge-shaped cion in one or 

 both sides of the split, taking care that the cambium layer of 

 the cion matches that of the stock. The exposed surfaces are 

 then securely covered with wax. 



Grafting is usually performed early in the spring, just before 

 the buds swell. The cions should have been cut before this 

 time, when they were perfectly dormant. Cions may be stored 

 in sand in the cellar or in the ice-house, or they 

 may be buried in the field. The object is to 

 keep them fresh and dormant until they are 

 wanted. 



If it is desired to change the top of an old plum, 

 apple, or pear tree to some other variety, it is 

 usually accomplished by means of the cleft-graft. 

 If the tree is very young, budding or whip-graft- 

 ing may be employed. On an old top the cions 

 should begin to bear when three to four years old. 

 All the main limbs should be grafted. It is im- 

 ^^^DefOTe* wTx- Po^'t'^n^ ^o keep down the suckers or watersprouts 

 ing. from around the grafts, and part of the remaining 



top should be cut away each year until the top is entirely 

 changed over (which will result in two to four years). 



A good wax for covering the exposed parts is described in 

 the footnote on page 145. 



Keeping records of the plantation. 



If one has a large and valuable collection of fruit or orna- 

 mental plants, it is desirable that he have some permanent 

 record of them. The most satisfactory method is to label the 

 plants, and then to make a chart or map on which the various 

 plants are indicated in their proper positions. The labels are 

 always liable to be lost and to become illegible, and they are 

 often misplaced by careless workmen or mischievous boys. 



