GRAPE. 247 



Grape, continued. 



on these, unless the stocks are very heavy, but will open 

 the cleft with knife or shears, and then push down the 

 cion to its proper place. The inner side of the cion, oppo- 

 site the bud, should be somewhat thinner, so that the 

 stock will close firmly on it ; the cion should also be in- 

 serted far enough so that the bud is just above the hori- 

 zontal cut on the stock. The third man follows, presses 

 a little moist earth on the surface of the stock, and then 

 hills up around the junction to the uppermost buds of the 

 cion with well-pulverized soil, taking care not to move 

 the cion, and the operation is finished. It becomes neces- 

 sary sometimes to tie the stock, when it is not large 

 enough or from some defect in grafting it does not firmly 

 hold the cion. In such a case, pass a string of raffia or 

 some other flat bandage firmly around the stock and tie 

 it, but in no case use grafting wax or clay, as the strong 

 flow of sap from all the pores is apt to drown and sour 

 the cion, while without obstructing it, it will flow around 

 the stock, serving to keep the junction moist and facilitate 

 the union. As the whole operation is covered with earth, 

 there is no danger of drying up, as is sometimes the case 

 when fruit trees are top-grafted. 



"A very important consideration, to insure success, is 

 to equalize the stock and cion. If, therefore, large stocks 

 are to be grafted, we must have strong, well-developed 

 wood for the cions, and have buds enough to take up the 

 full flow of sap, while small stocks, if used at all, should 

 be grafted with small cions of only two or three buds. 

 When the stocks are strong, I take two cions and insert 

 one on each side of the stock, of full length, say from 14 

 to 16 inches, and with six to eight buds each. This has 

 many advantages. The principal one is that they will 

 elaborate and work up the entire flow of sap. Another 

 is, that if the cions have well-developed fruit buds, they 

 will produce quite a number of clusters from the upper 

 buds, and thus show the character of the fruit the first 

 year. I have picked a thousand pounds of grapes from 

 an acre thus grafted, the first summer, and a full crop of 

 five or six tons per acre the following season. Another 

 advantage is that it establishes the crown of the graft at 

 the right distance from the ground, as the three upper 

 buds will produce the canes for the next season's bearing. 

 If both cions grow, cut off the weakest above the junction 

 the next spring, leaving onlv the strongest. I generally 

 find that the whole surface of the stock is covered by the 



