PROPAGATION BY GRAFTING. 77 



soil, in a pit, on the north side of a wall or fence, and 

 deeply covered with earth drawn up in a mound to throw 

 oif the water. They are thus kept perfectly dormant 

 until used, and not so dry as to shrivel the bark. They 

 should always be taken from healthy, vigorous trees ex- 

 clusively, and be of firm, well-ripened wood. A mode- 

 rate-sized shoot or scion, if well matured and sound, is 

 much better than one as thick as a man's finger, pithy 

 and unripe. People are by no means so careful and dis- 

 criminating in this respect as they ought to be. Half of 

 the maladies of trees originate in negligent and vicious 

 systems of propagation. The implements used in graft- 

 ing are the grafting-knife, saw, and chisel (see imple- 

 ments)/ In whip-grafting or splice-grafting, the stocks 

 being small require the knife only, or not more than 

 the knife and chisel. It is always better to have two 

 knives one to prune and do the rough work, and the 

 other to prepare the scion. Grafting composition is pre- 

 pared in various ways. Rosin, beeswax, and tallow, in 

 about equal parts, answer very well. Lately, however, 

 we have found it better to use more rosin and less bees- 

 wax and tallow ; thus, to two pounds of rosin we add 

 one and one fourth pounds of beeswax, and three fourths 

 of a pound of tallow. For whip-grafting on the root, 

 and small trees in the nursery, we use cloth saturated with 

 this composition, instead of the composition itself, and 

 find it more convenient and expeditious. If we have no 

 old calico, we buy a very thin article, at about four cents 

 per yard. This we tear into narrow strips, roll into balls, 

 and then soak in the liquid composition until every pore 

 of the cloth is filled with it. The person who applies it 

 to the grafts takes it from these balls, tears it in pieces 

 the length arid breadth required by the size of the stock, 

 and two or three turns of it around the graft secure it 

 completely. This thin cloth soon decays, and yields to 



