THE GENESEE FARMER. 



217 



GRAFTING GBAPES, Sac. 



In the April number of the Genesee Farmer we 

 alluded to adiscusHJon in the Journal cf Agriculture 

 Pratique^ between Dr. Jules Guyot and M. Hooi- 

 BRENK, an Austrian horticulturist, in regard to a 

 method of training the vine, which the latter 

 claimed to have discovered, but which Dr. G. and 

 other French writers thought was not new. M. 

 HooiBRENK appears to be one of those men whose 

 writings are provocative of discussion. To this 

 we do not object, as much truth is generally elic- 

 ited by the discussion — even on subjects which are 

 merely incidental. 



It appears from the Revue Rorticole that a dis- 

 cussion on the subject of grafting has arisen be- 

 tween M. BoissKLET and M. Oakeiere, chiefly re- 

 specting the merits, as compared with the usual 

 way of cleft-grafting, of a mode of performing the 

 operation, and of an instrument employed for the 

 purpose by Hooibrenk. M. Boisselet, in the first 

 place, defends the mode of cleft-gralting, which M. 

 Caekiere says was unnecessary, as it was not at- 

 tacked ; and secondly, he states that he has fre- 

 quently tried grafting with the instrument above 

 alluded to, but has never succeeded. On the other 

 hand, M. Oaeriere affirms that with the same 

 kind of instrument he has operated successfully not 

 only in grafting the vine, but also the following 

 plants: In spring, in the open air — apricot, cherry, 

 plum, apple, pear, poplar, amygdalopsis, cytisus, 

 all the species; in autumn (September), in the 

 open air — apricot, cherry, pear, plum, cotoneaster, 

 purple filbert, syringa, thorn ; in autumn (Septem- 

 ber), under glass — the fruit trees above mentioned, 

 together with the birch, oak, beech, thorn, lime, 

 cotoneaster and conifers. 



The editor of the Gardeners^ Chronicle, allu- 

 ding to the discussion, well observes : 



M. Carriere mentions the time and circum- 

 stances under which he operated; but of these, in 

 the case of his opponent, we are not informed. 

 Now, in our opinion, the season, or state of vege- 

 tation of the plant, is the main point. If grafting 

 is done at the right time, which may be sooner or 

 later, according to the nature of the subject oper- 

 ated upon, almost any iustrum»nt with a cutting 

 edge will do; but if done at the wrong season, the 

 most ingeniously constructed instrument, with an 

 edge as sharp as tliat of a razor, will not ensure 

 success, and more especially in the case of the vine. 



Many years ago, Mr. Buaddiok, of Thames Dit- 

 ton, generally failed in grafting the vine at the usual 

 time of grafting in spring. He however received 

 some vine cuttings from abroad in summer, after 

 his vines were in full leaf; and anxious to pfeserve 

 the sorts, and for the sake of experiment, he then 

 grafted them, tliousth almost hopeless of success ; 



but as it turned out, to iiis surprise, the graks took 

 well. By subsequent experiments, the results of 

 wliich he communicated to tlie Horticultural Soci- 

 ety, he establislied the fact tliat vines ought not to- 

 ie grafted till the stock or plunt on which the ^cion 

 is placed is in full leaf. Most probably, therefore, 

 M. Boisselet's complete faihtre, with tlie vine at 

 least, has occurred, like that of many others, in 

 consequence of grafting at a season when the plant 

 ought not to be cut on any account whatever; tliafe 

 is after the sap is in iiiotion, and before the bud* 

 expand. Any incision made during that period, 

 {>ermits the vine to bleed, but most profusely if 

 made just before the buds open; and the more vig- 

 orous the vine, the worse the bleeding. When 

 large iimbs of apple or other trees are cut and 

 grafted just as they are on the point of bursting 

 into leaf, tlie flow of sap is often so great as to 

 " drown the graft," as suffusion from the overflow 

 of sap is technically termed. But the loss of the 

 graft is not the only bad consequence of the un- 

 timely operation; the unabsorbed extravasated sap 

 ferments, becomes putrid or acid, and kills the vi- 

 tal tissue lying between the alburnum and inner 

 bark. The stock consequently dies back to a. 

 greater or less distance below the wound, instead 

 of keeping alive or healing over, as Avould be the 

 case if cutback in autumn, or winter. Many per- 

 sons complain that their pears on quince stocks da 

 not succeed well. They should recollect that the 

 quince is among the earliest of deciduous trees in 

 coming into leaf, and therefore it should be headed 

 back for grafting early in the year at latest ; for 

 wlien done at the time of grafting,. or after its sap 

 is in active flow, it dies or cankers at the grafted 

 l)art, so that a perfect union cannot possibly take 

 place. 



Presuming that due attention is paid to the 

 proper time of grafting, the operation may be suc- 

 cessfully performed in various ways. On the whole, 

 we consider that in most cases whip-grafting is the 

 most preferable; and what is termed in the Serve 

 Horticole, Daniel Hooibrenk's system, appears to 

 be nothing more nor less than Avhip-graftiag. It is 

 better than cleft-grafting, because more of the sec- 

 tions of the inner barks of the stock and scion can 

 be made to coincide than by other modes. M. 

 Carriere, who is a very intelligent horticulturist, 

 details a case in which Hooibrexk's mode, oi- what 

 we may as well call whip-grafting, succeeded bet- 

 ter tlian cleft-grafting. In the bef^niming of Sep- 

 tember, he took two vine shoots, of whicli the 

 wood was then half herbaceous. One he cnt in 

 lengtbs ot 5 or 6 inches, each piece Iteing cut im- 

 mediate under a bud at its base, and close above 

 one at its top, exactly as if prepared for a cutting, 

 but a slice at tlie top was taken oti" as in wiiip- 

 grafting to receive the scion, formed of a portion 

 of the other shoot, whicli latter was cut so as to 

 preserve a bud and leaf at its top, whilst its base 

 was cut sloping to fit exactly its counterpart at tlie 

 top of the other piece, intended for the stock. The 

 parts were then tied, and covered with grafting 

 wax. Each grafted cutting or cutting stock was 

 then inserted about half its length in a pot, and 

 jdaced under a hand or bell glass in a propagating 

 house. The leaf at the top of the scion continued 

 to act, and contributed to the formation of roots, 

 and the union of the graft. 



