248 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



when operating, success cannot follow. The cuttings intended for scions should consist 

 ot moderately strong canes, thoroughly ripened, taken from the vines as soon as the 

 leaves have fallen, and laid in a trench on the north side of a wall, covering with sandy 

 soil, where they will keep dormant until the latest vines are in a fit state to be grafted. 

 Grafting is performed just before the sap rises in the stocks, March being the best month 

 for those wintered in cool houses, as, if delayed until the buds commence swelling in the 

 stocks, there is more trouble in checking the flow of sap from the wound. Whip-graft- 

 ing, as shown in Fig. 75, I?,/, 7r, /, page 247, is followed. 



To prevent bleeding the junction is dressed with grafting-wax after binding with 

 cotton, but this has been objected to as making too tight a joint, and wax bands are 

 preferred in Continental vineyards. The wax band is made of soft coarse muslin 

 cut into strips 8 inches long and \ inch wide. A number of these are dipped half 

 their length only in a liquid formed by heating to boiling, in a shallow iron pan, \ 

 pound each of beef tallow and beeswax, adding 2 ounces of resin, taking the strips out 

 quickly and hanging them in a cool place till the wax hardens. The bandage is 

 applied by beginning a little below the joint and wrapping the "dry" end closely, 

 firmly, and spirally upwards, completely covering the joint, and, when the waxed 

 portion is reached, drawing it tight and going spirally downwards and over the 

 " dry" covered part until the whole is covered with the waxed band, gently pressing 

 the joint between the thumb and forefinger to make all close. Waxed bands can 

 be made in lengths suited to the size of stocks, or the scion may be bound with a 

 dry bandage and then completely inclosed, air-tight, with the waxed cloth, or brushed 

 over with shell-lac dissolved in alcohol, closing any exposed points. After binding, 

 carefully cover the graft to the terminal bud with dry soil, as indicated by the dotted 

 lines in Fig. 75, B, I, page 247. 



Bottle-grafting (Fig. 75, C) is performed after the stock has commenced growth, 

 selecting a short-jointed, well-matured shoot of the preceding year, with bold buds. 

 Take a slice off near the middle, about 4 inches long, forming a tongue by a cut 

 upwards with the knife as in whip-grafting ; then take a slice off the stock and make a 

 slit downwards to admit the tongue of the scion, and fit the scion on the stock as 

 shown in Fig. 75, C, o. All the cut parts must fit with exactitude, and the binding 

 with tape made secure. One or two buds are left on the scion, which must be of 

 sufficient length for inserting in a bottle kept filled with rain-water and a few bits 

 of charcoal, as shown in Fig. 75, C, o. The growth (ri) attracts the sap into the scion 



