196 



HORTICULTURE. 



Saddle 

 grafting. 



Side graft- 

 ing. 



Inarching. 



Hoot graft 

 ing. 



to be inserted. The graft is cut, at the distance of an 

 inch and a half from its extremity, circularly through 

 the bark, not deeper than the bark on one side, but 

 fully halt' way through, or beyond the pith, on the 

 other. The cut portion is then sliced away ; the end of 

 the graft is pointed, being sloped a little to the point 

 on the outside, but left straight on the inside. A shoul- 

 der is likewise left, to rest on the bark of the stock. 

 The grafts are then inserted into the openings made by 

 the ivory folder; and either three or four grafts are in- 

 serted on a crown, according to its size. This mode 

 cannot be practised till the sap be in full motion, per- 

 haps in the end of March, as till then the bark cannot 

 easily be raised from the wood. When the grafts are 

 placed on old trunks, they are apt to be drawn from 

 their places by violent winds ; it is proper, therefore, 

 to bind them to stakes for the space of perhaps two years, 

 when they will have acquired a sufficient hold of the 

 stock. 



68. Saddle grafting consists in cutting the top of the 

 stock into a wedge-like form, and in making a corre- 

 sponding angular notch in the bottom of the graft, to 

 fit the wedge like a saddle. It is a mode sometimes 

 adopted in the grafting of orange trees. 



69. Side grafting is merely tongue grafting, per- 

 formed in the side of a branch, or in the body of a 

 stock, without heading down. The bark, and a little 

 of the wood, are sloped off for the space of an inch and 

 a half, or two inches ; a slit is then made downwards, 

 and the graft is cut to fit the part, with a tongue for 

 the slit, (Plate CCCIX. Fig. 3.) ; the parts being pro- 

 perly joined, are tied close, and clayed over. This 

 mode is sometimes employed for supplying vacancies 

 on the lower parts of full grown fruit trees. It cannot 

 properly be performed till the sap is in action, or till 

 about the middle of March. 



70. Grafting by approach, inarching, or ablactation as 

 the older horticulturists termed it, is practised or. some 

 kinds of fruit trees, chiefly tender, such as oranges, le- 

 mons, pomegranates, and mulberries, and on several 

 ornamental trees which do not readily succeed by the 

 ordinary means, such as myrtles, jasmines, andrachnes, 

 and some rare species of oaks, firs, and pines. Walnut 

 trees are sometimes also increased in this way. The 

 principle is, that the graft shall continue to have a de- 

 gree of attachment to the parent plant sufficient to keep 

 it alive, until such time as its bark shall have become 

 united to the bark of the stock which is approached to 

 it. The stock is often planted in a pot (Plate CCCIX. 

 Fig. 4. a.) at least a year before, and is brought close 

 to the tree or shrub to be grafted on it, (Fig. 4. b. ) ; if 

 too low, it is raised on a slight stage to the required 

 height. Where the tree is strong, the pot is sometimes 

 fixed upon one of the branches of the tree. The ope- 

 ration of inarching is seldom performed before the mid- 

 dle of April, or the beginning of May. When it can 

 be accomplished, tongue grafting is even in this way 

 advisable. In four or five months the inarched graft is 

 generally found to be fairly united to the stock ; the 

 head of the stock is then cut off; but the graft is not 

 separated from the parent plant till nearly a year have 

 elapsed. Sometimes, for sake of curiosity, branches of 

 contiguous trees are joined by approach-grafting. To 

 make this experiment succeed, it is necessary to fix the 

 branches to poles, to prevent wind- waving; and in- 

 ;deed this caution is in general necessary in all kinds of 

 inarching practised in the open air. 



71. Recourse is sometimes had to root-grafting, either 

 for curiosity, or on account of seedling stocks being 



scarce. A piece of the root of a tree of the same genus, 

 well furnished with fibres, is selected, and a graft placed 

 on it, tied and clayed in the ordinary way. Thus uni- 

 ted, they are set with care in a trench in the ground, 

 the joining being covered, but the top of the graft be- 

 ing left two inches above ground. Some gardeners 

 have thought that in this way the plant must preserve 

 a nearer resemblance to the parent tree ; but Aber- 

 crombie remarks, that though it is an expeditious wav 

 of obtaining a new plant, such a graft cannot be mate- 

 rially different from a cutting or layer. 



72. What is called shoulder or cheek grafting, was for- shoulder 

 merly much more frequently employed than^it is now. grafting. 

 The head of the stock being first cut off horizontal- 

 ly, one side of it is then sloped. The graft is sloped 



in the same manner, and a shoulder left at the point 

 where the sloping begins. This shoulder is applied to 

 the horizontal head of the stock, and the bark is brought 

 to join at each edge if possible. Another old method 

 of grafting was called terebration or peg-grafting : the 

 head of the stock was cut off horizontally, and a hole 

 was bored in the centre of it ; the graft was selected of 

 equal bole with the stock ; within an inch and a halt' 

 of the lower end of the graft, a circular incision was 

 made, and the bark and a great part of the wood were 

 removed, leaving only a peg to fit the hole bored in the 

 stock. 



dons for Grafts. 



73. The dons are gathered a good many weeks be- Cions for 

 fore the season for grafting arrives : the reason is, that 

 experience has shewn, that grafting may most success- 

 fully be performed, by allowing the stock to have some 

 advantage over the graft in forwardness of vegetation. 



It is desirable that the sap of the stock should be in 

 brisk motion at the time of grafting ; but by this time, 

 the buds of the cion, if left on the parent tree, would 

 be equally advanced ; whereas the cions, being gather- 

 ed early, the buds are kept back, and ready only to 

 swell out when the graft is placed on the stock. Cions 

 of pears, plums, and cherries, are collected in the end 

 of January or beginning of February. They are kept 

 at full length, sunk in dry earth, and out of the reach 

 of frost, till wanted, which is some time from the mid- 

 dle of February to the middle of March. Cions of ap- 

 ples are collected any time in February, and put on 

 from the middle to the end of March. The selecting 

 of proper cions is a matter of the greatest importance, 

 if we wish to enjoy the full advantage which may be 

 derived from grafting. They should be taken from a 

 healthy tree in full bearing, and from the outer side of 

 the horizontal branches of such a tree, where the wood 

 has freely enjoyed the benefit of sun and air. It is 

 however the observation of a judicious practical garden- 

 er, Mr James Smith at Hopetoun House, that par- 

 ticular notice should be taken, whether the tree to be 

 grafted from be in a luxuriant or in a debilitated state. 

 If the former be its condition, the grafts are very pro- 

 perly taken from the extremities of bearing branches ; 

 but if it be in the latter predicament, the most healthy 

 shoots in the centre of the tree should be resorted 

 to; and if no proper shoots exist, the amputation of 

 some central branches will quickly tend to produce 

 them. The least reflection must convince every one, 

 how extremely improper it must be to take cions from 

 young trees in the nursery lines, as is too often done. 

 It may be remarked, that the middle of the cion ge- 

 nerally affords the best graft. 



