42 Grafting. 



BUSHBERG CATALOGUE. 



Grafting. 



top. The length and the depth of this slope 

 depends to some extent upon the size of the 

 stock. Set the knife about one-eighth of an 

 inch from the top of the slope, and drive it 

 down with the mallet about one inch and a 

 quarter or more deep, to form a tongue in the 

 stock. The knife must be set exactly, or it 

 will cut too shallow or too deep, but a little 

 practice will soon determine this matter. If 

 it is cut too deep the tongue will be too stiff 

 and unyielding, and if too shallow it will be 

 too flimsy to hold the graft. 



If the stock is, sa^^ three-quarters of an 

 inch or more in diameter, insert two grafts, 

 one on each side, Ijut if less, one stout graft 

 will be sufficient. Cut the grafts long enough 

 that the upper bud will be just about above 

 the level of the ground, or a little above, but 

 never under the surface. Slope the grafts on 

 one side onl}^ about one inch and a half long, 

 to a thin edge below. Take the outside bark 

 off from the graft up as high as the slope. 

 Then cut a tongue in the graft (just like the 

 scions of root-grafted apples are cut), about 

 one inch and a quarter deep. In cutting the 

 tongue, the outside of it should be a little 

 larger than the inside, to make a neat fit. 

 When inserting the grafts they cannot be 

 made to match the stock at ever^^ part of the 

 slope, in fact, pay no attention to that; but 

 find the place where the}^ do and push them 

 down ti.ght and Jinn. Then as a precaution 

 against moving, wrap a tie around to keep 

 the grafts in place while working al)out them. 



Fis. 63. Stock axd Graft Below Grouxd. 



First fill in a little good soil below and pack 

 it down firmly around the graft with the 

 hands. Then fill in about half full and tramp 

 carefully around the graft to make it firm. 

 Then fill up level with the surface, and put a 

 stake to mark the place as well as to tie the 

 grafts to when they grow. 



We refrain from speaking of other methods 

 of grafting, as Ave believe the modes of 

 CLEKT-grafting as well as the wiiir-graft and 

 CHAMPix-graft, which we have described and 

 illustrated by plain figures, are those which 

 give the best results, generall3\ The exten- 

 sive grafting operations of France are mostly 



confined to these methods, and practical ex- 

 perience is the best teacher in such matters. 

 We also deem it unnecessary to speak of 

 the many machines and tools lately invented 

 for grafting ; as a good pruning knife, as de- 

 scribed, is the tool most in use, and quite 

 satisfactory in skilled hands. 



W"e should here mention that, generally 

 speaking, our American varieties do not take 

 the graft as readil}^ and surely as the Euro- 

 pean species. A graft of T^. Vinifer(( on an 

 American stock will rarelj^ fail to grow if the 

 operation has been properly performed ; while 

 success is not quite as certain when both, 

 stock and scion, consist of American varieties, 

 especiall}^ if of the hard-wooded kinds. Nev- 

 ertheless, when well done, at the proper 

 season and with well-conditioned wood, the 

 operation will show a far greater percentage 

 of success than of failure. 



In our former edition we promised to ex- 

 periment more largely with the grafting of 

 European varieties on our native stocks here. 

 Vi^e have made these experiments, and in Sep- 

 tember, 1880, we exhibited in St. Louis, at 

 the meeting of the Mississippi Valle}^ Horti- 

 cultural Society, a number of fine foreign 

 grapes, raised in open air. on grafted vines, 

 in our own vineyards. But while success, 

 in so far as protecting the European grape 

 from the Phylloxera, has been highly satis- 

 factory, we have found our climate, in this 

 latitude, too unfavorable for the V. Vinifera 

 to encourage us for more extensive operation. 

 Not only are our winters too severe for the 

 V. Vinifera, l)ut the tendency of the latter to 

 mildew makes their success too doubtful in 

 all but the most favorable seasons. For our 

 section of the United States, therefore, we 

 would not recommend anything further than 

 limited trials in this direction. But we think 

 that there is a valuable field of operation for 

 the enterprising grape-grower in some sec- 

 tions of the Southern States, where, under 

 more favorable climatic conditions, the V. 

 Vinifera, grafted upon Phylloxera-proof 

 native stocks, would most likel}- give ex- 

 cellent results. 



Just as we close this chapter on grafting, we 

 receive the sad news of the death oi. Mr. Aime 

 Champin, who passed away on April 14, 1894. 

 By his death, French viticulture, yes, we may 

 saV> grape cultui-e throughout the world loses 

 one of her brightest and moi^t eminent devotees. 

 A man of the highest intelligence, endowed with 

 rare gifts of observation, he was an ardent 

 student of nature, imbued with a deep spirit and 

 a truly practical sense of her teachings, her 

 wonders and her raj^steries, which sense and J 

 spirit he had the happy faculty to impart to all ^ 

 his writings. He was one of the warmest cham- 

 pions for fhe resistant American grape root in its 



