660 



GRAFTAGE 



GRAFTAGE 



religiously observed, to insert the graft during the 

 moon's increase." 



The accompanying cut (Fig. 930) reproduced exact 

 size from Robert Sharrock's "History of the Propaga- 

 tion and Improvement of Vegetables," 1672, shows va- 

 rious kinds of grafting in vogue over two centuries ago. 

 Following is the literal explanation of the plate : 



930. Sharrock's illustration of ths modes of Grafting. 1672. 



The Exemplification of the Operations by the Figure. 



a. Denotes the ordinary cuttingof the bark for inoculation. 

 6 6. The sides of the bark lifted up for the putting in of the 

 shield. 



c. The shield taken off with the bud, which lies under the 



stalk of the leaf cut off. 

 I n. The shield put into the stock to be bound up. 



d. The bark cut out in an oblong square, according to an- 



other usual way of inoculation. 



g. The shield cut out for the fitting the disbarked square. 

 m. The same shield put into the stock. 

 /. A variation of the forementioned way, by cutting off the 

 upper part of the oblique square, and binding the 

 lower part down upon the shield. 



0. The shield so put in to be bound up. 



e. Another variation by slitting the bark, that the bud and 

 leaf may stand forth at e, and the bark slit be bound 

 down upon the shield. 

 h. A cross cut for inociilation. 



1. The same cross cut lifted up, in this figure somewhat 



too big. 



k. The shield cut off to be put therein. 

 p. The shield put in. 

 flror q. The cut of cyon or stock for whip-grafting. 



rl. The cut of cyon and stock for shoulder-grafting. 

 s. The cut of the cyons and slit of the stock for grafting 



in the cleft. 



x. The stock set for ablactation or approach. 

 u. The cyon of the branch for the same operation. 

 1 2. The branch that is to be taken off by circumposition. 



3. The branch that bears up the mold to the disbarked 



place. 



4. The branch of a carnation to be laid. 



5. The joynt where the slit begins. 



6. The next joynt where the slit is propped open, with a 



piece of a carnation leaf put in. 



Herein are seen the germs of all the grafting practices 

 of the present day, together with some practices of 

 layering. Sharrock treated the whole subject of graft- 

 ing under the head of "Insitions," and here he mi- 

 nutely de-scribes the cleft-graft, and speaks of it as 

 "the common way of grafting." The practice which we 

 now know as inarching or grafting by approach, he sig- 

 nificantly calls "Ablactation" (that is, suckling or u-ean- 

 ing). Now that so much is said about the proper and 

 careful selection of cions, it is interesting to read Shar- 

 rock's advice on this subject : "Good bearing trees are 

 made from Cyons of the like fruitfulness. * * Cyons 

 are best chosen from the fairest, strongest shuits, not 

 from under shoots or suckers, which will be long ere 

 they bear fruit, which is contrary to the intention of 

 grafting." But we have seen that Pliny gave similar 

 advice before the Christian era, which is only another 

 illustration of the fact that most of our current notions 

 have their roots deep in the past. 



The chief office of grafting is to perpetuate a variety. 

 It is employed in those cases in which plants do not bear 

 seeds, or in which the seeds do not come true or 

 are difficult to germinate, or when the plants do 

 not propagate well by cuttings or layers. It is 

 also employed to increase the ease and speed of 

 multiplying plants. A third office is to produce 

 some radical change in the nature of the clon, 

 as rendering it more dwarf, more fruitful, or 

 otherwise changing its habit. A fourth general 

 office of grafting is to adapt plants to adverse 

 soils or climates. An example is the very 

 general use of the peach root in the south- 

 ern states upon which to work the plum, 

 as the peach thrives better than the plum 

 in sandy soils. The practice in Russia of 

 working the apple on roots of the Siberian 

 crab is an example of an effort to make a 

 plant better able to withstand a very se- 

 vere climate. 



In common practice, the effect of the 

 stock on the cion is rather more a mechan- 

 ical or physical one than physiological or 

 chemical. The influences are very largely 

 those which are associated with greater or 

 less growth. As a rule, each part of the 

 combined plant the stock and cion 

 maintains its individuality. There are cer- 

 tain cases, however, in which the cion 

 seems to partake of the nature of the 

 stock ; and others in which the stock par- 

 takes of the nature of the cion. There are 

 recorded instances of a distinct change in the 

 flavor of fruit when the cion is put upon stock 

 which bears fruit of very different character. 

 There are some varieties of apples and pears 

 which, when worked upon a seedling root, will 

 tend to change the habit of growth of that root. 

 Examples are Northern Spy and Whitney ap- 931. stick 

 pies, which, when grafted on a root of unknown of buds, 

 parentage, tend to make that root grow very (X K-) 



