G1U 



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GRA 



GRAFTING is uniting a scion of one 

 plant to the root, branch, or stem of 

 another. The scion and stock must be 

 of nearly related species. 



The objects of grafting are: 1st. 

 To increase choice kinds. 2nd. To 

 increase the vigour of delicate kinds. 

 5rd. To reduce the vigour of those 

 which are too gross, -ith. To accele- 

 rate the period of fruiting. ;">th. To 

 adapt kinds to soils for which they 

 would be unfitted on their own roots. 

 6th. To renovate old kinds. 



We now proceed to give a series of 

 cuts, illustrative of all the modes which 

 arc usual in general horticulture 



1. WHIP GRAFTING, called also splice, 

 and tomjue grafting. This is the most 

 common mode, and is that almost uni- 

 versally adopted in our nurseries ; and 

 when the stock and scion are equal in 

 size, is perhaps the handiest. The 

 head of the stock is pruned 

 off at the desired height, and 

 then a slip of bark and wood 

 removed at the upper portion 

 of 1 he stock, with a very clean 

 cut, to fit exactly with a cor- 

 responding cut which must 

 be made in the scion. A 

 very small amount of wood 

 must be cut away, and the 

 surface made quite smooth; 

 care must be taken that no 

 dirt he upon the cuts in this, 

 and, indeed, in all the other 

 modes. The scion must now 

 be prepared ; this should 

 have at least three or four 

 huds, one of which should, 

 where possible, be at the lower end, to 

 assist in uniting it to the stock. A 

 sloping cut must now he made in the 

 scion; this cut must correspond with 

 that on the stock, and a slit made to 

 fit in a cleft made in the stock when 

 heading it. This slit serves to main- 

 tain the scion steadily in its place until 

 properly fastened, and is more u matter 

 of convenience than anything else. 

 Care must be taken that the scion fits 

 hark l.o bar If, on one side at least, for 

 Ji is not the old or existing portion of 

 wood that forms the union, but a tissue 

 -which has to be produced, just as when 



the sides of a wound have to be re- 

 united. This power exists in the albur- 

 nous matter, which lays next the inner 

 bark ; and the substance which forms 

 the union, and which is secreted by 

 the returning sap, is termed cambium. 

 Where the stock and scion disagree in 

 point of size, of course only one side 

 can touch, and great care should be 

 taken in this part of the operation ; 

 and, in the case of a young scion on 

 an old tree, some allowance must be 

 made for the ruggedness of the bark. 

 The scion being thus adjusted, the 

 whole is bound close, but not too tight- 

 ly, witli a shred of bass mat, care being 

 taken that the inner barks coincide. 

 The clay is now applied, in order to 

 keep the parts moist, and some practi- 

 tioners pile soil over the grafted part, 

 when near enough the ground. In all 

 the modes of grafting it may here be 

 observed, that the chief ground of success 

 lies in nicely fitting together some corres- 

 ponding -portions of the inner bark of the 

 scion, and stock. 



',!. CROWN, called also Clcj 2, or Wedge 

 Grafting. This is applied to various 

 plants as well as fruits, as, for instance, 

 the rose, cactuses, i'c. Vines, also, 

 are frequently grafted by this mode. 

 As in whip grafting, it accelerates the 

 union if the bottom of the scion has a 

 bud or two. In the case of the vine, it 

 is considered necessary to let the stock 

 grow a little before grafting; care must 

 be taken, however, to keep some grow- 

 ing portions on the stock, above the 

 graft, or severe bleeding would ensue. 

 As the name indicates, a 

 cleft, or division, is made in 

 the stock to receive the scion, 

 which is cut like a wedge ; 

 again taking care, in case of 

 inequality of size, to make 

 one side fit bark to bark. 

 When the scion and stock 

 are unequal in size, both 

 sides of the scion may be 

 brought to fit by cutting the 

 cleft nearer to one side of the crown 

 than the other. The wound is bound 

 over, as in the other processes, with 

 bast, and covered over with clay, or 

 grafting-wax. The camellia succeeds 

 well when grafted this way, even a 



