PROPAGATION BY BUDDING AND GRAFTING 115 



budded to the desired variety. Graftage is employed in the 

 propagation of the tree-fruits in America, and of very many 

 ornamental trees and shrubs, and it is indispensable to the 

 nursery business. 



In some species, which present no marked or named varieties, 

 propagation by seeds or cuttings is for* various reasons so diffi- 

 cult or uncertain that recourse must be had to graftage, quite 

 independently of the perpetuation of particular horticultural 

 varieties. This is true in many of the firs and spruces, which 

 do not produce seeds to any extent in cultivation. In other 

 cases, graftage is employed to aid the healing of wounds or 

 to repair and fill broken tops. It has been used to make 

 infertile plants fertile, by grafting in the missing sex in 

 dioecious trees, or a variety with more potent pollen as 

 practiced in some of the native plums. 



The old discussion as to whether 

 grafting is a devitalizing process is 

 quite aside from the question, see- 

 ing the many necessities that must 

 be met. Poor work and the match- 



FIG. 129. A natural graft of forest trees. Similar but manipulated graft at 



the right. 



