=; j t GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 



tain timv. before the flowering and fruiting stage is reached. When old 

 enough to give wood for cions, the seedlings which we will suppose to 

 be the results of cross-fertilization, are grafted on older seedlings, or 

 fruit-bearing stocks, with the result that flowering and fruiting are hast- 

 ened very considerably. When it is desired to propagate a large num- 

 ber of any selected variety that has thus been flowered and fruited, the 

 grafts are often used on one or two year-old seedling stocks. It will 

 thus be seen that a very large number of slow flowering and fruiting 

 plants can be raised by this method, in a comparatively short time. 

 But the uses to which it is put by no means end here. Some flowering 

 shrubs have the same characteristics; they take quite a 1 ng while to 

 flower from the seedling stage. Very often seedlings do not make florlf- 

 erous plants, and many of the forms do not produce seeds at all. There- 

 fore, recourse is had to grafting or budding, not only to lessen as much 

 as possible the time between the periods of propagation and flowering, 

 but also to perpetuate certain peculiarities In species and varieties 

 which can not be brought about by seeds or cuttings. Again, frequently 

 the stock has beneficial influences upon the cion. One of them is that 

 Home things which are comparatively tender are rendered hardier by be- 

 ing grafted upon the stocks of hardy species or their varieties. In order 

 to make fruit trees dwarf, such as apples and pears, certain well known 

 stocks are used for this purpose, such as Paradise and Doucin stocks for 

 apples and quince for pears. For outdoor grafting the usual time Is in 

 the Spring, just before the plants are in active growth, the actual time 

 varying, of course, with different plants and in different parts of the 

 country. The cions are cut in early Winter, and buried in the soil or 

 sand, just out of the reach of frost. This keeps them fresh and plump, 

 and in a condition to readily unite with the stock. The methods of 

 grafting are numerous; some of them are quite complicated and have 

 been originated merely to show the skill of some operator. The easiest 

 way may be said to be the best, and the best methods are so easy that 

 an intelligent child may be taught in a short time to perform the work 

 successfu ly. Indoor grafting is practiced during August and September, 

 and, with dormant wood, during the period from December to March. 

 As a rule, the closer the relationship between stock and cion the greater 

 the chances of a successful union between them. But plants are some- 

 times successfully grafted on stocks of different genera of the same 

 order. The Syringa on the Ligustrum is a familiar example. Some of 

 the most familiar methods of grafting are as follows : 



Saddle Grafting In this case that part of the stock on which the cion 

 is to be placed is cut to a wedge shape. A neatly made notch is cut in 

 the bottom part of the wood of the cion to fit closely over the wedge- 

 shaped part of the stock. This method is used in grafting Rhododen- 

 drons, 



Crown grafting is performed by heading back a large-sized stock, 

 making an incision in the bark from the severed part downward. Raise 

 the bark on each side of the perpendicular cut, as in budding; make a 

 slanting cut on one side of the cion, and insert beneath the bark; bind 

 together and cover with grafting wax. 



J Veneer grafting is principally practiced on coniferous plants and 

 Rhododendrons. It consists of making a cross cut through the bark 



