CLEFT-GRAFTING. 



121 



vertical cut. The cleft is, therefore, cut instead of split, 

 insuring a tight fit of the cions. This tool is particularly 

 useful upon hard and crooked-grained stocks. 

 The cions must be thrust down, in the cleft, 

 to the first bud, or even deeper, and it is im- 

 perative that they fit tight. The line of sepa- 

 ration between the bark and wood in the cion 

 should meet as nearly as possible the similar 

 line in the stock. The cions are usually set a 

 trifle obliquely, the tops projecting outwards, to 

 insure the contact or crossing of the cambium 

 layers. Writers usually state that it is imper- 

 ative to success to have the exact lines be- 

 tween the bark and wood meet for at least the 

 greater part of their length, but this is an er- 

 ror. The callus or connecting tissue spreads 

 beyond its former limits when the wounds 

 begin to heal. The most essential points are/^. Rooted 

 rather to be sure that the cion fits tightly *$g*^ 

 throughout its whole length, and to protect (*%) 

 the wound completely with an air-tight covering. The 

 practice must be modified, of course, to suit the stock and 

 the occasion. Sometimes rooted cuttings of grapes are 

 cleft-grafted (Fig. 124), and these, being in the ground, 



are not waxed, and it is difficult 

 to split the stub deep enough to 

 allow the cion to be thrust in 

 far. If the stub, in this case, 

 has little elasticity after being 

 split, it should be tightly wound 

 to keep the cion in place. An 

 old grape stock, cleft-grafted, 

 and then covered with earth, 

 is seen in Fig. 125. These 

 covered grape stubs are usu- 

 ally not waxed. This is the common, and generally the 

 best, 'method of grafting the grape. 



125. Cleft- grafting on old 

 grape stock. 



