66 PROPAGATION BY GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 



Orange (Citrus Aurantium), and several instances are cited 

 in Lindley's ' Theory of Horticulture,' as well as in Masters's 

 ' Vegetable Teratology.' Mr Thwaites mentions the case of 

 a Fuchsia which developed two plumules from one seed, .in 

 a similar manner to the Osage Orange plants above alluded 

 to ; but this case was even more singular, since the two 

 plumules differed very much from each other a fact attributable 

 to their hybrid origin, the seed which produced them having 

 been the result of a cross effected between F. magellanica and 

 F. fulgens, the latter being the pollen parent. Lateral fusion, 

 or " fasciation," is a developed form of natural embryonic 

 grafting or inarching, and may be seen in Asparagus, Coton-. 

 easter, Cucumbers, and in the crested varieties of Celosias 

 or "Cockscombs." By noting the fact that nearly all young 

 growths, such as stems or fruits, unite readily when in a young 

 state, the intelligent propagator has long practised an adaptation 

 of this tendency towards embryonic union or lateral fusion, 

 to which the name " herbaceous grafting " is applied ; and in 

 most good nurseries inarching stems when in a young and 

 tender state, or before woody tissue has had time to form, is 

 found to give a more intimate union, since woody tissues 

 never unite, the point of union being the cellular tissues of the 

 cambium layer. Cellular tissues, as the very young stems of 

 woody plants, soft succulent stems, as in Cacti or fruits like 

 Melons, unite over nearly the whole area of the cut parts if 

 neatly fitted together. Herbaceous grafting deserves more 

 general adoption by our propagators than is at present the 

 case, as cellular tissues unite much more freely than any other ; 

 indeed, none other really unite. Almost all trees and shrubs 

 may be so grafted ; and even Quercus, Fagus, Walnut, Conifers, 

 and other plants which do not readily " take " when scions of 

 the partly hardened or ripe wood are used, succeed perfectly 

 by herbaceous grafting. The operation is best performed in a 

 close and genial temperature, the essentials being a scion of soft 

 young growth, one to one and a half inch long, a stock with the 

 sap in full action, and a humid atmosphere to prevent the leaves 

 of the scion from flagging. If the leaves are large, they may be 

 cut in half to prevent evaporation taking place too profusely. 

 A knife of razor-like sharpness and quick manipulative skill 

 are required ; and in many cases it will be found that tying in 

 the scions will not be requisite if both stock and scion are in 

 the soft or herbaceous state, and the plants operated on are at 

 once plunged in a close heated case, where the atmosphere is 

 kept at nearly saturation point. By operating in this way, 

 seedlings only an inch or two in height may be grafted on 



