GENERAL PRACTICE. GRAFTING, STOCKS AND SCIONS. 



121 



Those fruits are more apt to fail in grafting than the apple and pear ; yet, when cherry 

 and plum stocks are headed early, and the scions taken off in good time, both succeed ; 

 indeed, the grafting of the former especially is largely practised in nurseries. 



Young stocks should not be less in thickness than the little finger when grafted, 

 and they need not exceed that of the thumb. Head them back by mid-February, 

 or earlier if the weather be mild, to a point a little higher than where the scions are to 

 be subsequently put on. Never head them in frosty weather. Hard frost acts injuri- 

 ously on fresh wounds, sometimes parting the bark from the wood, and causing various 

 splits. Better defer the heading until milder weather, or until grafting, than prune 

 during frost to where the graft is to be placed, but it ought to be done in advance of 

 growth. Grafts should be inserted at 6 inches, or not more than 9 inches, from 

 the ground. Less does not allow of surface-dressing and encouraging rootlets from 

 the stem. These remarks apply to young trees that are to be grown either as dwarfs 

 or standards. Grafting half or full standard high is not desirable, and should only be 

 resorted to with trees of large stature, that may be cut down to be engrafted with 

 superior varieties. Quince stocks, however, used for pears should be grafted 3 

 inches from the ground, as it is the quince root, not its stem, that is wanted. Grafts 

 take most readily on well-rooted stocks ; therefore, they should have at least a year 

 wherein to become established before working. This having been already fully treated, 

 it is only necessary to remark that tongue or whip grafting is the most suitable, and 

 healthy vigorous stocks essential. 



Scions should have thoroughly ripened wood. Shoots of the preceding summer are 

 usually chosen, well furnished with wood buds, and the plumper they are the better. 

 Long succulent shoots are not suitable. A well-ripened shoot of the second year's 

 growth having a sufficiency of latent buds is better than a badly-ripened shoot of the 

 previous summer; gummed or cankered parts should be rejected even in apparently 

 healthy shoots. Scions, or the parts to be attached, ought to be cut in February, or, 

 if mild, in January never when frozen, but always before the buds commence swell- 

 ing. They may be laid in a trench, with the soil thrown out so as to form a ridge on 

 the south side, thereby giving them the advantage of a northern aspect. Each cutting 

 should be placed against the slope of the trench, on the north face of the ridge, and at 

 the bottom, so that the cuttings have the benefit of the moist earth. Cover with soil or 

 cocoa-nut fibre refuse almost their entire length, pressing it closely against them. A 

 shady moist border answers still better, inserting them two-thirds their length in the soiL 



VOL. I. B 



