Plant Study 



21 



seeds are placed in moist sand in the fall or winter to soften 

 them and in the spring they are taken up and planted about 

 an inch deep in rich soil. The ground is thoroughly cultivated 

 during the growing season and in the fall after frost the seed- 

 lings are dug up and stored in green sawdust in a cool cellar. 

 Early in November cions are cut from trees of the variety de- 

 sired to propagate. These should be about six inches long and 

 of the previous season's growth. The cions are packed in saw- 

 dust in the cellar and whip-grafted on pieces of seedling root 

 in January or February. In the most usual 

 method followed, the roots of the seedlings 

 are cut into pieces three or four inches 

 long and each piece used as a stock. When 

 making the union of stock and cion, a slant- 

 ing cut is made on the upper end of a 

 piece of root and a similar cut on the base 

 of a cion. Both the root and the cion are 

 split about an inch down, as shown in Fig. 

 7, a and 6, and the two are fitted together, 

 as shown in c. The two must fit snugly 

 and the cambium layers must be in contact, 

 on one side at least. The graft is then 

 wrapped with waxed cotton (see page 28) to hold the two 

 parts firmly together. The finished grafts are packed in saw- 

 dust in the cellar until spring and, as soon as the soil has warmed 

 up, they are planted in the nursery or garden. One bud only 

 is left above the surface of the ground. The ground is culti- 

 vated during the summer and by fall the grafts should be large 

 enough to be set in the soil where they are to stand permanently. 

 However, if not needed for immediate planting, they may be 

 grown in the nursery for another year. A better practice is to 

 use whole roots rather than pieces of roots for stocks. 



Grafting is often employed for top-working apple trees when 

 it is desired to change the variety or have more than one variety 

 on a tree. The cions are set into the branches of the tree. 



FIG. 7. Whip-graft- 

 ing, a, the stock ; 

 6, the cion; c, stock 

 and cion united. 



