GENERAL NOTES ON GRAFTING. 49 



si)lit them perpendicularly, and both scions grow, you 

 will have one limb directly under another, which is al- 

 ways an inconvenient and ill-looking arrangement. The 

 cleft should not be more than four inches deep at the 

 most. The wedge of the knife is now inserted in the 

 center of the cleft, and a scion is set on each side of tlie 

 stub. When the scion is prepared ready for setting it 

 sliould comprise about three buds. Tlie lower end is cut 

 wedge-shaped by slicing off each side of the sciim with 

 an even, smooth cut. On one side of this wedge-shaped 

 portion should be left one of the buds. This outer edge 

 is commonly left thicker than the inner, so that it re- 

 ceives a firmer pressure in the stub. Figure 9 represents 

 a scion. 



When the scion is set this bud will be deep down in 

 the side of the cleft in the stub, and will be covered with 

 wax, but being nearer the source of nourishment it will 

 be the most likely of any of the buds to grow, and it will 

 readily push through the wax. The scion is set into the 

 cleft by exercising care that the inner surface of the bark 

 on the scion matches the inner surface of the bark on the 

 stub. A line between the bark and the wood may be ob- . 

 served. This line on the scion, in other words, should 

 match this line on the stub. Figure 10 represents the 

 stub just after the scions are set. Wax the whole over 

 carefully and thoroughly. Do not leave any crack ex- 

 posed. Wax which is pretty hard, and which must be 

 worked and applied with the hands, is commonly best. 

 For several years I have made grafting wax after the fol- 

 lowing recipe, and I have found it perfectly satisfactory : 

 Two pounds of rosin, one pound of beeswax, one-half 



