32 



NEW METHODS OF GKAFTING AND BUDDING. 



remaining on the shoot in the shape of a fork, breaks at the 

 diaphragm ; in this case the broken part on the scion-bud is 



smoothed and slightly cut 

 at a' bevel with the rounded 

 part of the grafting-knife, 

 being very careful not to 

 touch the bark. This scion- 

 bud enables one to make 

 herbaceous grafts during 

 all the time that the vines 

 are in sap; it has the 



great advantage of allowing the graft to lignify as quickly 

 as the wood of the graft-bearing shoot, and gives perfect 

 knittings. 



Fig. 44. 

 Drawing the shield towards the operator. 



Fig. 45. 

 Fork of sap-wood remaining on the shoot. 



Making the slit on the graft-bearing shoot. This slit may 

 be made in the shape of a T, or reversed T ; however, with 

 the half sap-wood shields it seems preferable to use the 

 ordinary T slits. The T-shaped slit is easier to make than the 

 longitudinal one, and facilitates the introduction of the scion. 

 The point where the slit is made on the grafting-shoot does 

 not seem to have very great importance ; grafts have suc- 

 ceeded on all parts of a shoot; however, if we have a scion- 

 bud with a little sap-wood attached to it, it is preferable to 

 place it on the flat part of a shoot, as in that place the bark 

 is thinner. This is not of very great importance if the 

 ligature is well done. When the scions are placed on a cane 

 one or two years old (these grafts succeed very well on old 

 wood), the operator should look for the rounded part of the 

 cane, for there the bark is thicker, and, as it is fleshy, desic- 

 cation is not to be feared. On old wood the bark is so 

 very thin on the flat side that it is almost impossible to 

 lift it. 



