GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 179 



tain time before the flowering and fruiting stage is reached. When old 

 enough to give wood for cions, the seedlings which we will suppose to 

 be the results of cross-fertilization, are grafted on older seedlingH, or 

 fruit-bearing stocks, with the result that flowering and fruiting are hast- 

 ened very considerably. When it is desired to propagate a large num- 

 ber of any selected variety that has thus been flowered and fruited, the 

 grafts are often used on one or two-year-old seedling stocks. It will 

 thus be seen that a very large number of slow flowering and fruiting 

 plants can be raised by this method, in a comparatively short time. 

 But the uses to which it is put by no means end here. Some flowering 

 shrubs have the same characteristics; they take quite a long while to 

 flower from the seedling stage. Very often seedlings do not make florif- 

 erous plants, and many of the forms do not produce seeds at all. There- 

 fore, recourse is had to grafting, not only to lessen as much as possible 

 the time between the periods of propagation and flowering, but also to 

 perpetuate certain peculiarities in species and varieties which can not 

 be brought about by seeds or cuttings. Again, frequently the stock has 

 beneflcial influences upon the cion. One of them is that some things 

 which are comparatively tender are rendered hardier by being grafted 

 upon the stocks of hardy species, or their varieties. For outdoor graft- 

 ing the usual time is in the Spring, just before the plants are in active 

 growth, the actual time varying, of course, with different plants and in 

 different parts of the country. The cions are cut in early Winter, and 

 buried in the soil or sand, just out of the reach of frost. This keeps them 

 fresh and plump, and in a condition to readily unite with the stock. 

 The methods of grafting are numerous; some of them are quite compli- 

 cated and have been originated merely to show the skill of some oper- 

 ator. The easiest way may be said to be the best, and the best methods 

 are so easy that an intelligent child may be taught in a short time to 

 perform the work successfully. Indoor grafting is practiced during 

 August and September, and, with dormant wood, during the period 

 from December to March. As a rule, the closer the relationship between 

 stock and cion the greater the chances of a successful union between 

 them. But plants are sometimes successfully grafted on stocks of differ- 

 ent genera of the same order. The Syringa on the Ligustrum is a fa- 

 mihar example. Some of the most familiar methods of grafting are as 

 follows: 



Saddle Grafting— In this case that part of the stock on which the cion 

 is to be placed is cut to a wedge shape. A neatly made notch is cut in 

 the bottom part of the wood of the cion to fit closely over the wedge- 

 shaped part of the stock. This method is used in grafting Rhododen- 

 drons. 



Crown grafting is performed by heading back a large-sized stock, 

 making an incision in the bark from the severed part downward. Raise 

 the bark on each side of the perpendicular cut, as in budding; make a 

 slanting cut on one side of the cion, and insert beneath the bark; bind 

 together and cover with grafting wax. 



Veneer grafting is principally practiced on coniferous plants and 

 Rhododendrons. It consists of making a cross cut through the bark 



