42 FRUIT GARDEN. 



Success in grafting depends almost entirely on ac- 

 curately applying the inner bark of the cion to the inner 

 "bark of the stock, so that the sap may pass freely from 

 the one to the other. They are therefore fitted together, 

 and held fast by a bandage of strips of bast-matting. 

 To lessen evaporation, a portion of ductile clay is 

 moulded around the place of junction, and is retained 

 until it appears, from the development of leaves, that 

 the operation has succeeded. The best season for 

 grafting is the month of March ; but it may be com- 

 menced as soon as the Isap in the stock is fairly in 

 motion, and may be continued during the first half of 

 April. 



The most usual mode of grafting is cd^Wedi whip graft- 

 ing, or tongue grafting, a, h. The top of the stock and 

 the base of the cion are cut ofi" obliquely at correspond- 

 ing angles, as nearly as can be guessed by the eye ; the 

 tip of the stock is then cut off horizontally ; next a slit 

 is made downwards in the centre of the sloping face of 

 the stock, and a corresponding slit upwards in the cor- 

 responding face of the cion. The tongue or upper part 

 of this sloping base is then inserted into tha cleft of 

 the cion, and so adjusted that the inner bark may unite 

 neatly and exactly on one side. The junction is then 

 tied up and covered with clay. Several other methods 

 may be mentioned, such as cleft-graftiiig, c, d, e, in 

 which the cion is sloped at the base, and inserted like a 

 wedge into a cleft in the stock. Side-grafting (Fig. 2), 

 f,g, which resembles whip-grafting, but is performed on 

 the side of the stock without heading it down. Orown- 

 grafting, in which the cions, m, f, are inserted between 

 the bark and the wood of the stock. Grafting hy ap- 



