BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 129 



Wheu the stock is very large, more than two scions can be used 

 by making two parallel clefts, so placed as to leave the pith in the 

 centre untouched. March and April comprise the usual time for 

 grafting out of doors. Cleft grafting can also be performed in 

 the latter part of the summer by using well-ripened wood. The 

 grafts would make no growth but would merely become united. 

 Terminal cleft grafting is only a modification of cleft grafting, and 

 is done by splitting the bark through the terminal bud without 

 heading down the stock. The scion is cut with a regular double 

 slope and inserted the same as in any cleft grafting. The stock 

 and scion are then firmly bound together. As soon as the stock 

 and scion begin to grow, the shoots are pinched but not cut off, as 

 they draw the sap towards the graft, which is essential in plants 

 that are slow to unite. This kind of grafting is used on both the 

 walnut and the fir tree. 



Side Grafting. — This term is applied to a number of processes 

 of grafting in which the head of the stock is not cut away. The 

 most simple side graft is that in, which the scion is cut with a long 

 splice, perfectly smooth and thin to the bark. Then from the 

 stock a thin strip of bark and wood two or more inches in length 

 is cut. Fit the barks exactly together and bind firmly. This is a 

 favorite method of grafting the camellia and azalea, and should 

 be done under glass. In side grafting with a vertical cleft, the 

 scion is cut half its length on both sides in the form of a thin 

 wedge. The stock is cut with one stroke of the knife, allowing 

 the blade to penetrate the alburnum. The scion is then thrust in 

 the cleft thus made and held in its place by a ligature of bass or 

 raffia. This kind of grafting can be used for camellias, or in fact 

 any plants under glass. It is especially used in herbaceous graft- 

 ing, such as chrysanthemums, potatoes, tomatoes, coleus, cacti, 

 and other succulent plants. In succulent plants it is not neces- 

 sary to pare them down as thin as in woody ones, but to leave 

 them more in the form of a wedge. Side grafting can also be 

 done under the bark in spring when the stock is in an active state 

 of vegetation, so that the bark will lift easily from the wood, as in the 

 case of budding. The scion is cut with a long splice, thin towards 

 the point. An incision is made in the bark as in T budding, 

 cutting through the bark but not into the wood. The bark is then 

 raised and the scion slipped under it. It is then tied and covered 

 with grafting wax, to exclude the air. There are other systems 

 of side grafting, but they are only modifications of one another. 

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