GRAFTING. 



15 



culture, is as the following; Apples, on apple or crab seedlings 

 for orchards (standards,) or on Paradise apple stocks, for dwarfs ; 

 Pears, on pear seedlings for common culture, or Quince stocks 

 for dwarfs, and sometimes on the thorn for clayey soils ; Peaches, 

 on their own seedlings for standards or for orchards; on Almonds, 

 for hot and dry climates ; on Plums in cold or moist soils, or to 

 secure them against the worm ; Apricots, on Plum stocks, to 

 render them hardy and productive, or on their own seedlings to 

 render them long-lived. Nectarines are usually worked on the 

 Peach or Plum; and Cherries on mazzard seedlings; or some- 

 times on the perfumed Cherry for dwarfs. 



The manual operation of grafting is performed in 

 a very easy and complete manner when the size of 

 the stock, or branch to be grafted, corresponds pre- 

 cisely with that of the scion. In this case, which is 

 called splice grafting, it is only necessary with a 

 smooth sloping cut, upwards on the stock a, and 

 downwards on the scion 6, Fig. 2, to make the two 

 fit precisely, so that the inner bark of one corresponds 

 exactly with that of the other, to bind them firmly 

 together with a strand of matting, and to cover the 

 wound entirely with grafting clay or wax, and the 

 whole is finished. In this, which is one of the 

 neatest modes, the whole forms a complete union 

 nearly at once; leaving scarcely any wounded 

 part to heal over. But, as it is only rarely that the 

 stock is of so small a size as to fit thus perfectly to 

 the scion, the operation must be varied somewhat^ 

 and requires more skill. The method in most com- 

 mon use to cover all difficulties, is called tongue 

 Splice grafting, grafting. 



AVe may remark here that grafting the shoots 

 of Peaches, Nectarines and Apricots, owing to 

 their large pith, is more difficult than that of 

 other fruit trees. A variation of splice-grafting, 

 Fig. 3, has been invented to obviate this. This 

 consists in selecting the scion a, so as to leave at 

 its lower end about a fourth of an inch of two 

 years old wood which is much firmer. The 

 bottom of the slope on the stock is cut with a 

 dove-tail notch 6, into which the scion is 

 fitted. 



Tongue grafting, (or whip-grafting,) Fig. 4, 

 resembles very nearly splice-grafting, except, 

 instead of the simple splice, a tongue is made 

 to hold the two together more firmly. In order ^ 3 s p i ice 

 to understand this method let us explain it a lit- grafting the peach 

 tie in detail. 



Fig. 2. 



