The Story-Book of the Fields 



wounds are fastened together by a bandage. 

 As soon as the join is complete the twig is 

 cut below the point of junction, and resumes 

 its position on the branch that bears it. In 

 this way the rich branches supply additional 

 ones to their poor neighbours without any 

 loss to themselves. 



Branch-grafting resembles propagation by 

 means of cuttings, and consists in transferring 

 a branch taken from its parent stem to 

 another plant. The method most generally 

 practised is called crown-grafting. This is 

 performed in spring, when the shoots on the 

 stock begin to develop. The last year's 

 branches are selected for grafts, strong and 

 well summered, having become hard wood 

 in the summer, and able to endure the winter 

 weather. There is one precaution that is 

 most necessary. When the branch is trans- 

 planted, unless it is to dry up and starve, it 

 must find on its new support nourishment 

 in proportion to its needs. It would in- 

 evitably perish if its growth were more for- 

 ward than that of the stem which is to be 

 its nurse. The stock must be ahead of it in 

 growth. For this reason, a month or two 

 before the grafting takes place, the branches 

 are cut off and buried in the ground, at the 



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