114 



PRACTICAL PLANT PROPAGATION 



special tool may be used to make 

 the cleft and hold it open while 

 the cions are being inserted. (See 

 fig. 55.) 



Cleft grafting is used principally 

 when the stock is over one inch in 

 diameter, making it possible 

 to insert two cions. Should 

 both grow, the weaker is cut 

 out at the end of the first 



Fig. 55. Cleft grafting. 



A, Use of grafting tool 



for making cleft. B, 



Inserting cion 



year. As in all grafting, 



the cambiums of both 



should be in contact. To 



insure this, the cions should 



be inserted a trifle diagonal- 

 ly. (See fig. 56-A.) 



As soon as the graft is 



made, all cut surfaces must 



be covered with wax (see 



fig. 56-B) ; a slight dab should even be placed at the end of each 



cion. 



Cacti are easily cleft grafted, 

 Pereskia (see fig. 56) and Cereus 

 being the common stocks for such 

 Cacti as Epiphyllums, which are very 

 drooping (see p. 132.) 



Peony roots may be cleft grafted, 

 especially Pseonia Moutan, which 

 is grafted either on the herbaceous 

 or the shrubby stock. Bind the 

 graft with copper wire; raffia decays 

 before the union takes place. 



VENEER GRAFTING 



Veneer grafting (see fig. 57) is 

 practiced mostly in the greenhouse 



Fi*. 5 S .-cieft eraftin*. A, The U P D amentels. The graft is 

 completed graft. B, Properly waxed very simply made, a chip being cut 



