THE NURSERY-LIST 325 



root-grafts are then treated in the same way as eye cuttings, only 

 that they are usually grown in pots from the start. 



The vine may be grafted with ease by any method. Cleft- 

 grafting is commonly employed on old plants. The cions are 

 inserted on the crown of the plant, just below the surface of the 

 ground. The cleft is bound with string, and then covered with 

 earth, no wax being necessary. The best time to perform the 

 operation is very early in spring, before the sap starts. Vines may 

 be grafted late in spring also, after danger of bleeding is past, if 

 the cions are kept perfectly dormant. Vines are sometimes grafted 

 in the fall, but this practice cannot be recommended in the North. 

 Young plants are usually whip-grafted at the crown, either indoors 

 or outdoors. Grafting the vine is mostly confined to Europe, 

 California, and other countries where the European grape (Vitis 

 vinifera) is grown, as that species must be grafted upon some other 

 stock in order to resist the phylloxera. The common wild frost- 

 grape (Vitw vulpina) is the most popular stock. The union in these 

 cases must not be much below the ground, unless it is desired that 

 the cion take root. The union is sometimes wound with waxed 

 muslin and the earth is heaped about it until it has healed. Grapes 

 can be grafted by the cleft-graft below ground as readily as pears or 

 apples can be worked. For pictures of various methods of graft- 

 ing the grape, see Figs. 172, 173, 192, 195. Fig. 173 represents a 

 good type for general use on old vines. 



The vine is frequently inarched, and early in spring it can be 

 budded by ordinary methods. 



Seed-grafting is a curious practice, which may be applied to the 

 grape (see page 166). 



There is so much misapprehension respecting the methods and 

 results of the grafting of grapes, that the following directions by 

 the veteran viticulturist, the late George Husmann, of California 

 (as given in American Agriculturist, 1896), are here transcribed in 

 full: 



" A good, thin-bladed, sharp knife to cut the cions, a sharp saw 

 to cut off large stocks the smaller ones can be cut with good 

 pruning shears a chisel for grafting having a blade 2^- or 3 inches 

 broad in the middle and a wedge on each side [a knife with but a 

 single wedge, as in Figs. 168 and 169, will answer the same purpose], 

 a wooden mallet, and a few strings of raffia, or other bandage, in 

 case a stock should need tying, which is seldom the case are 

 the implements necessary for grafting. The cions should be of 



