232 



AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



CLEFT GRAFTING LARGE LIMBS OR TREES. 

 Fig. 114. 



6 K fitie 



a. Large stock cleft and wedged for the reception of the grafts. 



b. Large stock cleft grafted. 



c. Large stock cleft grafted, showing the excessive opening of the split, and the difficulty 

 of fitting the graft wedge to the stock. 



d. Shouldered graft, with thin, tongue-like wedge, to obviate the difficulty of fitting the 

 graft wedge to the stock. 



e. Thin-wedged, shouldered graft inserted, with bud resting on both sides of the cleft. 



In cleft grafting large trees or branches, the body or limb is 

 carefully sawed off and smoothed. It is then split with the 

 curved knife of the grafting tool, which should be driven with 

 repeated gentle blows with a light mallet rather than with a 

 sudden stroke ; the wedge end of the tool is then inserted at 

 the centre to keep the cleft open, or a wooden wedge is used 

 (Fig. 114 a), while a graft is set on each side, the graft wedge 

 being cut as above directed, except that it may be of even 

 thickness on both edges, the cleft in this case being equally 

 open on both sides (Fig. 114 b). 



Owing to the difficulty experienced in cleft grafting large 

 trees on account of the depth to which the cleft in a strong 

 body or limb will open (Fig. 114 c), the grafts for this pur- 

 pose are sometimes shouldered that is, cut square in on both 

 sides at the upper end of the wedge, and, instead of a true 

 wedge, a thin, wedge-like tongue is formed for insertion in the 

 cleft (Fig. 114 d), while the shouldering is carefully made just 



