FRUITS. CHAP, 



produce wood than fruit. Yet do not take branches from 

 the very lowest part of the tree if you can avoid it, as 

 these are sure to be more puling in their nature. In 

 case the tree be old, or weakly, then chuse the most vi- 

 gorous of its last-year's shoots, no matter where they 

 grow. Keep these branches uncut 'till you arrive at the 

 season of grafting, keeping them in the meanwhile buried 

 in dry mould : and when that season arrives, take them up 

 and cut them into the proper lengths for grafting. The 

 middle part of each branch will generally be found to be the 

 best ; but your branches may be scarce, and few in num- 

 ber, and then make use of every part. Each scion should 

 have from three to six eyes on it ; but six will, in all cases, 

 be quite enough,as there is no use in an extraordinary length 

 of scion j but, on the contrary, it may be productive of 

 much mischief by overloading the head with young shoots 

 and leaves as summer advances, and thereby making it 

 more subject to accident from high winds or heavy rains. 



208. The operation of Grafting is performed many ways, 

 though no one of them differs from any of the others in the 

 main principle, which is that of bringing the under, or 

 inner, bark of the scion to bear upon the same bark of 

 the stock j so that, the scion is (as I said before) a branch 

 of another tree, brought and made to occupy precisely 

 the place where a branch, or stem of the stock, was cut 

 off. The sap of the stock flows upward towards the 

 scion, and it will flow on into the scion, provided it find, 

 no interruption. Here, therefore is the nicety : to fit those 

 two barks so closely the one upon the other that the sap 

 shall proceed onward into the scion just as it would have 

 done into the amputated branch, causing the scion to 

 supplant the branch, I shall only mention and illustrate 



