108 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



these if we remember the fact that any method which brings the grow- 

 ing layers of the two parts of the graft into juxtaposition and keeps 

 them there firmly until they unite will give good results. Among those 

 which fulfill these conditions the best will be those which mutilate the 

 tissues least, leave the least amount of cut surfaces exposed, and are the 

 most easily and rapidly performed. 



These considerations restrict our choice in bench grafting vines by 

 hand to two methods the tongue, whip, or English cleft, and the wire- 

 graft. 



Tongue Grafting. When the stocks and scions are prepared and 

 graded the grafter takes a box of stocks and a box of the corresponding 

 size of scions and unites them. Each is cut at the same angle in 

 such a way that when placed together the cut surface of one exactly 

 fits and covers the whole of the cut surface of the other. (See Fig. 7, 



FIG. H. Showing method of holding the knife and cutting. 



A 1.) The length of cut surface should be from three to four times 

 the diameter of the cutting, the shorter cut for the larger sizes and the 

 longer for the thinner. This will correspond to an angle of from, 14.5 

 to 19.5 degrees. The cut should be made with a sliding movement of 

 the knife, as illustrated in Fig 8. This will make the cut more easily 

 and more smoothly. 



The cut should be made with a single quick motion of the knife. If 

 the first cut is not satisfactory, a completely new one should be made. 

 There should be no paring of the cut, as this will make an irregular 

 or wavy surface and prevent the cuttings coming together closely in 

 all parts. 



The. tongues are made with a slow, sliding motion of the knife. They 

 are commenced slightly above one third of the distance from the sharp 

 end of the bevel and cut down until the tongue is just a trifle more than 

 one third the length of the cut surface. The tongue should be cut, 

 not split. The knife should not follow the grain of the wood, but 

 should be slanted in such a way that the tongue will be about one 

 half as thick as it would be if made by splitting. Before withdrawing 



