178 



CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 



cultivators, as budding cannot be relied upon in the spring, and 

 as there is much wood from the winter pruning which would be 

 otherwise wasted. It is also useful for working over those plants 

 in which buds have missed the previous summer. 



There are several modes of grafting of which the most gen- 

 erally practised is cleft grafting. For this mode, the stock is 

 cut off at the desired height with a sharp knife, horizontally, or 

 slightly sloping, as in fig. 2. This should be done just above a 

 bud which may serve to draw up the sap to the graft. The 

 stock can then be split with a heavy knife, making the slit or 

 cleft about an inch long. The scion should be about four inches 

 long, with two or more buds upon it. An inch of the lower part 

 of the scion can be cut in the shape of a wedge, making one side 

 very thin, and on the thick or outer side, leaving a bud opposite 

 to the top of the wedge. This scion can then be^ inserted in the 

 cleft as far as the wedge is cut, being very careful to make the 

 bark of the scion fit exactly to that of the stock. In order to 

 exclude the air, the top and side of the stock should then be bound 

 with a strip of cloth covered with a composition of beeswax and 

 resin in equal parts, with sufficient tallow to make it soft at a 

 reasonably low temperature. In the course of two or three 

 weeks, if every thing is favorable, the scion will begin to unite, 

 and will be ready to go forward with advancing vegetation. 

 When the stock is sufficiently large, two scions can be inserted, 

 as in fig. 2. 



Whip grafting is performed by cutting a slice of bark with 

 a little wood from the side of a stock about an inch and a-half 

 long, and then paring a scion of the usual length down to a 

 very thin, lower extremity. This scion can then be accurately 

 fitted on to the place from which the slice of bark and wood 

 is taken. The whole can then be bound around with cotton 

 cloth, covered with the composition described before. In all 

 grafting it should be borne in mind, that it is essential for the 

 bark of the scion and that of the stock, to touch each other in 

 some point, and the more the points of contact, the greater will 

 be the chance of success. 



