200 



SUCCESSFUL FllUIT CULTURE 



Grafting the Vine — Many of the varieties highly 

 recommended by nurserymen prove of little value except 

 under the most favorable conditions, and after planting 

 it becomes necessary to destroy them or to change the 

 variety. The latter can be done with a limited success 

 only by grafting, though no one has been able to make 

 more than a small per cent of grafts to grow, but when 

 they do succeed the growth is so great that the graft 

 bears fruit often the next year after grafting. The 

 most successful method of grafting the vine is by cutting 



Fig. 107— Grafting the Grapevine 



off the stock two or three inches below the surface of 

 the ground in the fall before the ground freezes, and 

 making a common cleft graft. If the stock does not 

 split well a fine saw may be used to split it. After the 

 cion has been inserted the soil is packed firmly about 

 the cleft, no wax being used, then a small flowerpot is 

 inverted over it (Figure 107), so that the cion may 

 not be disturbed when beiug uncovered in the spring. 

 More soil (d d) is now banked around the flowerpot, 

 and, as cold weather comes on, mulch enough is put 



