226 GARDENING. 



be obtained by this operation (which is called graft- 

 ing) are four, viz., to preserve and multiply varie- 

 ties of known and acknowledged merit ; to improve 

 the qualities of the fruit ;* to hasten fructification 

 in trees slow in bearing ; and, lastly, to render bar- 

 ren trees fruitful.! The general rules which guide 

 in the operation are to unite varieties of the same 

 nature, as apples and quinces, or apricots and plums, 

 &c., &c. ; to seek a resemblance in the flow of the 

 juices and the permanence of the foliage, between 

 the scion and the stock ; to take the scion from lat- 

 eral shoots, and from the last growth of the wood, 

 and at a proper season (which is during the winter) ; 

 to unite exactly the inner bark of the scion to that 

 of the stock, and to do this when the sap of the lat- 

 ter is in full motion. The age of the stocks is reg- 

 ulated by the character they are to bear : if intend- 

 ed for full standards, they should not be less than 

 three years old; if for half standards, two years 

 old; and if for dwarfs, one year old. The same 

 rule appears to have determined the elevation at 



* Lord Bacon's opinion, that the office of the stem is merely 

 passive and subservient to the scion, is received with much 

 qualification by professional horticulturists. Millar asserts that 

 " crab stocks cause apples to be firmer and sharper, and to keep 

 longer; and that breaking pears put on quince stocks give 

 gritty fruit ; while melting pears, on stocks of the same kind, 

 give fruit highly improved." Neil thinks " the qualities of the 

 fruit are partially affected by the character of the stock on which 

 it is placed." Thouin necessarily holds the same opinion, as he 

 recommends grafting on a graft as a great improvement of the 

 fruit ; and Loudon, in his Encyclopaedia, gives it as the settled 

 opinion " of all practical men, that the nature of the fruit is in 

 some degree affected by that of the stock." 



f Encyclopaedia of Gardening, p. 783 ; and M'Donald's Ex- 

 periments. If trees comparatively or absolutely barren be 

 headed down, and receive two or more scions, the roots and 

 stems, having now less to do, will nourish the grafts well, and 

 soon enable them to bear fruit. But, besides this effect of in- 

 creased nourishment, we must remember that grafting, like 

 ringing, predisposes to the production of fruit-buds by the ob- 

 struction it gives to the descending sap. 



