216 GARDENING FOB THE SOUTH. 



they will go a thousand miles in perfect safety. The butt 

 and extremities of scions should both be rejected. The 

 tools required are, a grafting knife, saw, and chisel; but, 

 for whip grafting, the knife only is employed. Two kinds 

 should be used, one to prune and pare the stock, and the 

 other to prepare the graft. 



Grafting Wax. — A composition of very good quality 

 is made of four parts rosin, two of beeswax, and one of 

 tallow. Melt it altogether, turn it into cold water, and 

 work and pull it thoroughly until it turns whitish; just 

 as children do molasses candy. A wax for cold weather 

 will work better with a little less rosin, and in warm with 

 a little more. The stiffness of the wax is increased or 

 diminished by employing less or more of tallow. In cold 

 weather keep the composition in warm water, and in 

 warm in cold water. In putting it on, the hands must be 

 slightly greased, to keep it from sticking to them, but 

 in operating grease the scion and stock as little as pos- 

 sible. 



In applying the wax, be careful to cover the scion on 

 the sides and the cleft in the stock, forming a cap over the 

 top, and pressing it closely and tightly around the graft, 

 so as to cover every crack, and carefully to exclude the 

 air and water. More convenient than the wax itself, espe- 

 cially for whip grafting, is (loth saturated in wax that 

 has been made softer by using more tallow and beeswax 

 and less rosin. Take any thin, half-worn calico or muslin, 

 tear it into narrow strips, roll them loosely into small 

 balls, and soak them in the hot composition until every 

 pore is filled. When wished for use, it is unwound from 

 the balls, and torn into smaller strips, of the proper 

 length and breadth required by the size of the stock. 

 These strips, wound two or three times around the stock 

 and graft, secures it perfectly. 



Modes and Time of Grafting. — The modes of graft- 



