140 THE NURSERY AND THE ORCHARD. 



propagated from layers and cuttings, there is reall}' little- 

 necessity for resorting to grafting in this country, except 

 in a few instances. On many farms, in almost all vine- 

 yards, there will be found large, healthy vines, whose' 

 fruit never matures, or is of very inferior quality. If 

 such vines can, in a short time, be made to produce 

 abundant crops of choice grapes, it is certainly impor- 

 tant that the process of grafting be applied rather than^ 

 destroy them and depend on new vines to fill their places. 

 Again, it is often desired to obtain vines of some new va- 

 riety as rapidly as possible, and as the wood is scarce,, 

 every bud should be utilized. This is done by means of 

 grafting, and the growth of a bud in a single season is 

 often from fifteen to twenty feet. Another purpose for 

 which the grafting of the vine is very effective is the 

 early testing of new varieties. We sometimes obtain 

 fruit of the new kind the first year by grafting on a vig- 

 orous bearing vine. A.t the South the fall or early win- 

 ter is probably the best season for performing the opera- 

 tion. In colder climates it is usually done in the spring. 

 The method generally applied is cleft grafting, and it is 

 successful on stocks of almost any size. (See chapter on 

 grafting). The dirt is cleared avvay from the root of the 

 stock to the depth of about four inches, and it is then 

 sawed or cut off horizontally below the surface of the 

 ground. 



A cleft is made with a sharp instrument one or two 

 inches deep, cutting rather than splitting. The scion 

 is prepared in the same manner as for apples, and in- 

 serted very carefully so that the inner bark of the stock- 

 and scion will fit nicely together. If the stock does not 

 press the scion tightly, it will be necessary to tie. See^ 



