112 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



field in nursery rows when they are a foot high. If destined 

 for inarching they must be kept in pots. 



Inarching is more successful in the hands of the tyro than 

 budding or crown-grafting. It can be recommended when only 

 a few plants are desired, and when the tree to be propagated is 

 in a convenient situation. G. Marshall Woodrow thus de- 

 scribes inarching as it is done in India. A slice is cut from the 

 side of a small branch on the tree it is desired to propagate, and 

 a slice of similar size 2 to 4 inches long and deep enough to 

 expose the cambium is cut from the stem of a young seedling 

 supported at a convenient height upon a light framework of 

 poles. The two cut surfaces are bound together with a strip of 

 fiber from the stem of the banana, or with some other soft 

 bandage. Well-kneaded clay is then plastered over the graft 

 to keep out air and water. The soil in the pot must be kept 

 moist. After six to eight weeks the cut surfaces will have 

 united. 



Inarching may be done at any time in strictly tropical 

 climates, but the best time in the hot parts of India is the cool 

 season. Toward the northern limits of mango cultivation the 

 middle of the rainy season is better. 



The graft is sometimes allowed to remain attached to the 

 parent tree for too long a time, with the result that swellings, 

 due to the constriction of the bandages, occur at the point of 

 union. It is better to remove the grafted plant fairly early 

 and place it in the shade for a few weeks. It is detached from 

 the parent tree by severing the branch which has been inarched 

 to the seedling at a point just below the point of union with the 

 latter. This leaves the young branch from the tree it was 

 desired to propagate growing upon a seedling ; the top of the 

 latter is cut out, and the branch from the old tree takes its 

 place, ultimately forming the crown of the mature tree. 



The age of the stock is not important. Plants three weeks 

 to three years old have been used with success. If kept in pots 



