ABOUT GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 69 



base of the plant. Take the shoot then in the left hand 

 (after having stripped it of its leaves for a few inches on 

 each side of where it is to be cut), keep the fingers under 

 the shoot, and make a cut on the upper part, an inch or so 

 in length, and to about half the thickness of the shoot ; 

 then slightly twist the " tongue" or cut part to one side, 

 as shown in the engraving, figure 26. Having opened a 

 shallow trench, fasten the branch down with a hooked 

 peg, and cover with earth. It is a good plan to place a 

 flat stone over the layer to prevent the soil from drying 

 out. This plan of cutting the shoot in layering is rarely 

 shown in illustrations on the subject, the cuts usually 

 being represented at the under side of the shoot. When 

 cut at the lower side, the shoot can not be laid down 

 without danger of breaking it. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

 ABOUT GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 



IT is often desirable to be able to bud or graft one va- 

 riety of plant on another entirely different variety; and 

 it is an interesting fact to know that the bud taken from 

 one plant and inserted so that it grows in another, and 

 is entirely sustained by the plant into which it has been 

 budded, in no way changes its character. This fact is so 

 well known to gardeners that they rarely think it neces- 

 sary to mention it in writing on the subject, and many 

 amateurs interested in horticultural matters have very 

 confused notions on budding. To illustrate : if a leaf 

 bud is taken from a white Rose, and inserted in the stem 

 of a red Rose, all the branches that proceed from this 

 bud, leaves or flowers, will be identical with the white 

 Rose from which it was taken. Or if a leaf bud of the 

 red Rose be inserted in the white, the same result will 



