70 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



exercise more care in the selection of stocks for Rhodo- 

 dendrons. It is radically wrong to graft a tender species 

 on a hardy one, and to reverse them is equally bad. 

 Attention should always be given to this question of 

 equality in hardiness, and also with respect to stature and 

 habit. 



The three modes of grafting preferred for Rhododen- 

 drons are those of the wedge, the saddle, and the side. 

 In wedge and saddle, the top of the stock is cut off and a 

 slit is made in which the scion, which is cut in the shape 

 of a wedge, is inserted ; or the stock is cut to a wedge 

 point and the scion is split and fixed on, like a saddle. 



For side grafting the top is left on the stock, a slice is 

 cut out of the side a few inches below, and the scion is 

 cut so as to fit in this incision, the graft then being bound 

 on with strong grafting cotton, a covering of clay or wax 

 being pressed tightly over it. 



The grafted plants are then placed in a frame, where 

 they are kept moist and in a temperature of about 55 until 

 a union has been effected. The top of the stock which has 

 been side-grafted is removed as soon as the scion starts into 

 growth. Either of these three methods will answer for any 

 of the strong-growing sorts. A heated frame is not neces- 

 sary for hardy sorts. The practice to-day is exactly the 

 same as it was forty years ago, when John Standish, one of 

 the greatest of English Rhododendron breeders and growers, 

 described his method as follows : 



" We begin to graft in January, February, and March, and 

 for a cold frame the operation may even be extended into 

 April, but in that case the grafts should have been taken off 

 by the end of February, and stuck in under a handlight, 

 behind a north wall, or in some other shady place. Those 



