14 NEW METHODS OF GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 



of the Hungarian viticulturist is a true budding, that of 

 Besson is an inlaying. Moreover, in the Horvath method, 

 the graft is always made on green shoots ; while, in the 

 Besson system, it is performed with lignified wood. 



The Besson graft, which was performed for the first time 

 in the spring of 1893, has been described at length in 

 this Revue by M. Mazacle.* We, therefore, reproduce his 

 description in full : 



" The budding of vines by the Salgues system has often given 

 satisfactory results, and even, under certain conditions, ren- 

 dered real services. It has been used to graft afresh shoots 

 grown from American vines on which the spring graft had 

 missed. In this case, if the budding is done in June,t it 

 gives birth to a strong shoot the same year. It is possible 

 to graft the canes or shoots of American stocks during the 

 whole summer with a series of buds distant from each other 

 the length of an ordinary cutting. In winter, when 

 pruning, the canes are cut above each graft, and by this 

 means grafted cuttings ,are obtained. They simply require 

 to be placed in the nursery the following spring. This graft 

 is also used for the propagation of rare varieties. 



" Summer budding is not always a success. The pro- 

 portion of takes is very variable, and, what is more the 

 operation is difficult. This is to be regretted, for this mode 

 of grafting, almost the only one used for fruit-trees by 

 nurserymen, presents very great advantages. It is very 

 rapid, and the wounds are reduced to a minimum. It will, 

 perhaps, be possible to facilitate and generalize this form of 

 grafting for vines by the inlaid budding on lignified wood. 



"The Besson graft was tried in the spring of 1893 at the 

 School of Agriculture, Montpellier, in order to make grafted 

 cuttings; it gave good results, the proportion of takes being 

 50 per cent, in a soil not favorable for a nursery, and which 

 was only watered once during the summer. 



" This graft was made at the same time as the ordinary 

 bench grafts, in spring. It is performed in the following 

 way with Besson's grafting appliance : This appliance 

 (Fig. 19) is a kind of secateur, with carved blades perpendicu- 

 lar to the handles, and is used to make the cut and also to 

 lift the bud. These two operations are practically identical, 

 for when the cut is made a bud is lifted, and vice versa. 



* Revue de Viticulture, vol. L, 1894. 

 t About December in Victoria. 



