GRAFTING THE GRAPE 



339 



a few inches above the first laterals. A cut is then made into the 

 side of the stump with a knife and mallet, as shown in the figure. 

 The scion is then cut long enough so that one bud will remain 

 above ground when the surface is leveled again, the bottom of 



Herbaceous buds which have taken hold. 



the scion being given an oblique wedge-shape, so as to fit the 

 crevice in the stock. Some care is needed in shaping the wedge 

 of the scion, so that the surfaces are in contact will give good 

 results. If the stock is well made and the end of the scion so 

 adjusted that the stock will pinch it when it is pushed into place, 

 nothing more will be needed except to smear over the cut surface 

 of the stump and the joint of the scion and stock with clay or 

 with a mixture of two parts clay and one part fresh cow manure. 

 If the scion is held firmly and sealed in with this mixture, it usually 

 needs no tying, and the hole can be carefully filled with loose earth, 

 with a strong stake to mark the place of the graft, and to which 

 the new growth can be securely tied afterwards. 



Another common method of grafting beneath the ground is to 

 split the stump across its center, as is done in top-grafting fruit 

 trees as shown in Chapter IX, and one or two scions inserted. 

 If two are used and both grow, the weakly one is afterward sup- 

 pressed. In this cross cleft graft some grafters rely upon the 

 stock to hold the scion without tying, and daub it over with the 

 clay mixture, care being taken to fill and cover the split in the 



