42 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 



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ment, which is impossible in the case of machine grafting. The sections 

 should be made with a single stroke of the knife, which must be very 

 sharp, otherwise there will be so many irregularities that a good joint, 

 depending as it does on close contact, will be impossible. The slanting 

 section being made with one clean cut of the knife, another cut is made, 

 parallel with the fibers of the wood of the cane and stock (Fig. 4), to a 

 depth of at least one fourth of an inch. In withdrawing the blade of the 

 knife, care should be taken to give it a slight rotary motion so as to 

 press the lips of the cut apart, and thus facilitate the insertion of the 

 corresponding tongue of the other part to be joined. 



The object of this parallel cut is twofold: to insure firmness in holding 

 the two parts together until the callus has formed and new wood devel- 

 oped at the joint; but most especially is it for the purpose of increasing 

 the surface where callus can form and thus enhance the chances of 

 getting a good joint. The exact position of the parallel cuts is of little 

 importance, and should not be too seriously considered. So far as regards 

 the life of the cane, the pith is of no importance at all, and, hence, 

 can bfc disregarded in the consideration of the problem. Of so little 

 importance is the pith that it can be removed without injury to the 

 cane. 



The only importance of the position of the parallel cuts rests in the 

 fact that the beginning and the end of the cut must be at equal dis- 

 tances from the center of the cane, in order that the cuts in the graft and 

 the stock can be in exact juxtaposition. It will be seen from this, that 

 the nearer the cuts are made to the center of the section, the shallower they 

 should be, and also the farther they are from the center, the deeper they 

 should be. If these directions be not carefully followed the adjusting of 

 the corresponding parts of the graft and stock will be defective; the two 

 short sections will not be able to cover each other, and the excessively 

 long sections will be lacking in solidity. The graft or scion, whether 

 it be of one or two eyes, is cut exactly as is the case with the stock. The 

 accompanying figures are given to illustrate these points (Figs. 2 and 4). 



The English graft, or whip graft, is one that gives the best joints; the 

 scion and the stock being cut so as to correspond exactly, gives greater 

 surface for the formation of callus, which forms on all parts of the cut 

 surface of the bark so well that the healing takes place on all parts of 

 the wound. This causes the sap to circulate almost as though there had 

 been no interruption whatever. On the other hand, while this system 

 gives by far the best joints, it gives, perhaps, fewer cases of success with 

 the unskillful workman; but if well done the difference is so slight, com- 

 paratively, as to make it the favorite system of all those who have 

 carefully experimented with it. It is to-day the most common in all 

 the large vineyards, and especially in the nurseries of France, where 

 grafting has been so extensively and thoroughly tested. 



Perhaps one of the reasons why this system is not highly esteemed in 

 this State is because of the difficulty of getting cuttings of resistant 

 vines that are large enough to be grafted before planting. Owing to 

 the very poor varieties of the resistant vines that have thus far prevailed 

 here, together with the method of planting the cuttings in place and 

 waiting several years before they were large enough to be grafted, this 

 system has not been given a fair trial. With the importation of varieties 

 of resistants which give canes fully as large as any of the Viniferas, 

 things will change, and it will be found, as has been the case elsewhere, 



