126 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



from them are wanted to propagate by grafting, they should be 

 taken off in early autumn and heeled-in in loam, sand, or moss, in 

 a moist pit or cellar for future use. I have found this especially 

 applicable, to hybrid roses, where the wood is wanted for winter 

 use. A great loss of grafts is sure to be the result if you do not 

 have the wood thoroughly ripened and taken off early in autumn 

 and buried in the earth. Ten degrees of frost will injure many 

 varieties of rose grafts. In selecting scions bear in mind that the 

 wood should not be too coarse but of medium texture, healthy, 

 and well ripened ; nor should you use fruit buds, unless you want 

 them for a special purpose ; although at times we often have to 

 use any wood we can get for scions, especially in the case of 

 varieties which from any cause are scarce ; but as a rule it is a bad 

 policy, and as soon as possible, new or stronger shoots, from the 

 one so grafted should be grafted on young vigorous stocks. This 

 is an essential point and should not be overlooked, that weak or 

 sickly scions grafted on sickly stocks soon produce a degenerate 

 race. In good nurseries, where careful attention is given to these 

 points, the stock trees are carefully pruned (or ought to be) and 

 cultivated on purpose to produce a healthy stock of wood for 

 grafts or other uses. The grafts should not be cut from the scion 

 until just before they are to be used. Never allow scions to 

 suffer from exposure to dry air, cold, or wet. In collecting scions 

 of evergreen trees, I think it best to cut them from the parent 

 plant just at the time of using them. If you must keep them over 

 winter the best way is to lay them thinly in sand, and keep in a 

 deep pit or cellar where it is cool and somewhat moist ; if they are 

 put in too thickly they will heat or rot. 



The Methods of Grafting. — These are so numerous that a sys- 

 tematic classification of them would be difficult. It would only be 

 a waste of time to try to enumerate them all, as that would be of 

 no practical value except to show in how many different ways the 

 work can be done. Almost every propagator has his favorite 

 style. Those methods that are practised by skillful propagators 

 are best ; they are few and may be summed up as follows : 



Inarching, or grafting by approach, 



Bottle grafting, 



Cleft grafting, 



Side grafting under the bark, or inlaying, 



Crown grafting, 



