136 



absolutely indispensable tbat the cambium, or generative, layer, situated 

 between the bark and the wood of both scion and stock, should 

 coincide in at least one point; the greater the length through which 

 this contact takes place the better. If this condition be not properly 

 fulfilled the graft will not take. 



First. Ordinary cleft graft, applicable when the diameters of stock 

 and scion are different. 



Second. English cleft graft, which can only be employed when the 

 stock and scion are of the same diameter, as would be the case when 

 grafting young-rooted American vines with European scions. 



Ordinary cleft graft. This is the most common and simplest 

 method of grafting, and is so well known as to scarcelyfneed descrip- 

 tion. Reference to Fig. 45 will enable the process k to be readily 



FIG. 45. 



understood. The stock is cut off horizontally, and in as clean a 

 manner as possible, 4 inches* or so below the surface, with a small 

 saw. A clean cleft is made with a chisel or pruning knife, which 

 should preferably not extend right across the diameter of the stem. 

 The sides are cut clean with a sharp knife, and a small slip of wood 

 may be removed in order to allow the scion to be properly placed 

 with ease, and the cleft is kept open with a wedge made for the 

 purpose. The scion, consisting of a well-ripened shoot of the year, 



* If a V. Vinifera is to be grafted on an American stock in a phylloxera - 

 infested district the stock should be cut off as near the surface as possible, so as 

 to prevent the scion forming roots of its own later on, which would expose it to 

 suffer from the attacks of the insect. 



