GRAFTING. 3 



called Saint Fiacre's Ointment, is chiefly composed of 

 clay. Other descriptions, known as grafting mastics, 

 are composed chiefly of resinous materials. The clay 

 mastic has the inconvenience of being liable to be 

 washed away by heavy showers, and of cracking when 

 very dry, by which means it ceases to be a sufficient 

 protection to the tender graft. When used upon apple 

 trees, it also serves as a harbour for insects, which 

 prove hurtful to the graft, and endanger the success of 

 the operation. 



Grafting mastics possess none of these inconveniences. 

 They are used cold or hot. The mastic of which the 

 following is the composition is always used hot. 



For one hundred parts by weight : 



Black pitch ... 28 parts. 



Burgundy pitch . . 28 



Beeswax .... 16 



Grease 14 ,, 



Yellow Ochre 14 



100 



This composition must be used sufficiently warm to 

 be liquid, but not so hot as to injure the tissues of the 

 tree. A small brush is used to spread it with. 



All the grafting mastics to be used cold were, until 

 quite recently, in the form of a soft paste, and had the 

 unpleasant inconvenience of sticking to the fingers of 

 the operator. Hot mastics have, therefore, been pre- 

 ferred, notwithstanding the extra trouble of heating 

 them. But now, M. L'homme Lefort, of Belleville, 



B2 



