Momagnyh Shield- grafting. 41 



I think the following advice which he gives, though not 

 entirely new, is good. For plants not placed in the conserv- 

 atory, and not hardy, he recommends, " that the pots should 

 be placed two or three inches lower than the surface of a bed 

 with southern exposure, having clothed them first with sweet 

 and dry moss; but upon all warm and benign emissions of 

 the sun, and sweet showers, give them air," &c. 



I will not draw farther on the stores of the worthy John 

 Evelyn ; as, before I conclude, I wish to call the attention 

 of your readers to a new plan of grafting, called by Monsieur 

 Vergnaud Romagny*, ecusson greffe, or shield-grafting. It 

 may be imiversally practised on all the ligneous tribe, whether 

 trees or shrubs, either on the old or on the new wood ; but 

 the latter is to preferred. The stock should be vigorous, 

 and the sap by preference ascending: it need not, however, 

 be very abundant ; nevertheless this disposition is more 

 advantageous than hurtful. The stock, whether young or 

 old, should be clean cut horizontally, from half an inch to one 

 inch (according to the species) above a bud which is some- 

 what developed, and the extremity of which should be pinched 

 off; or a small shoot on which one or two eyes may be left. 

 The bark is to be divided by a vertical cut, from one to 

 nearly two inches in length, according to the size and strength 

 of the stock, the distance from the bud or shoot near the 

 horizontal cut, and also according to the species, as from a 

 to c, ^fig. 5. Either the right or the left side of die bark, 

 guided by the neighbourhood and posi- 

 tion of the bud or shoot near the veitical 

 cut, is to be raised with the handle of 

 the budding-knife, taking great care not 

 to touch or injure the opposite side. In 

 Jig. 5., the left side [a) is raised opposite 

 the bud (^), and the right side [b) re- 

 mains untouched. The gi'aft should be 

 taken from a healthy and vigorous sub- 

 ject. It is a shoot of young wood cut to 

 a certain length, according to the position 

 of the eyes (gemmae) of the species. If both the graft and the 

 stock are in perfect health and full of sap, three or even four 

 eyes may be left. Fig. 6. has three at i. The shoot is to be 

 cut across, a little above the first superior eye; and, below, it 

 must be cut sloping [e7i sijfiet\ as from h to k. At the notch 

 /i, half the thickness of the wood is to be cut away. The 

 side g will be oblique, and the side f quite straight. Fig. 7. 



* From the Recneil Industrie!) par M. de Moleon. 



