GRAFTS 



63 



. The operation is very simple and much skill can be attained 

 by practice. The shield-shaped bark with bud is cut by slanting 

 the cut about a quarter of an inch above or below the bud and let- 

 ting the blade pass behind the bud and complete the shield about 

 a quarter of an inch past the bud. Very little of the wood of the 

 shoot should be cut. The knife used should be very sharp and 

 the blade very thin. The bark of the stock is cut in the form of 

 a T a few inches above ground. The angles of bark are rolled 

 back to admit the shield with bud. The latter is pushed well 

 down to the base of the cut and until the 

 entire shield is within the bark and adjacent 

 to the wood of the stock. The angles of the 

 bark will cover the edges of the shield. The 

 stock is then wrapped with waxed knitting 

 cotton, or raffia fiber, to hold the bud snugly 

 in place until it has united to the stock. The 

 wrapping is cut on the opposite side of the 

 stock soon after growth starts, to prevent 

 strangulation or other injury. 



Buds set in late summer should not start 

 growth until the following spring. Then all 

 the stock is pruned away above the bud 

 (Fig. 54) . This will force 'all the sap into the 

 expanding leaves of the bud, and the growth 

 should be very rapid (Fig. 55). When buds 

 are set in 1 spring or early summer more atten- 

 tion must be exercised in pruning away the 

 leafy growth of the stock, as it should not FIQ 54 _ When 

 all be cut off at one time for fear of checking young shoot starts a 



, /..T i i-iiii i orous growth in spring the 



the growth of the stock which had started superfluous part of the 

 before the bud united with it. 



Top-working with Buds is frequently practiced because the 

 wound formed by the union is not so bad as in some forms of graft- 

 ing. This is described under the head of grafting. 



Grafts are used in the propagation of many fruits as well as 

 for many ornamental trees and shrubs. Grafting differs from true 

 budding in that there is a piece of the twig inserted upon the stock 

 and not merely a bud. This piece is called the stion (or cion). 

 It may have either one or more buds, as desired. Scions are taken, 

 from the kinds which we desire to propagate, in the fall after the 

 leaves are off. They are stored in moist sand or sawdust in a cold 

 cellar until used. 



