16 BUSHBERG CATALOGUE. 
this we cannot agree. We should invariably 
prefer to graft a weak grower on a strong one 
Seco THE Scion. This should be from a 
healthy and short jointed cane from the last 
ummer’s growth, and of moderate size, (a lit- 
tle stouter than an ordinary lead pencil is the 
thickness which we prefer.) It should be cut 
from the vine before very hard freezing weather, 
and kept in a cool cellar, either in damp moss, 
sand, or sawdust, or else buried in the ground. 
_In case the grafting is to be performed Jate in 
Spring, the scion may be kept dormant in an 
ice-house. 
Third. Wuen To Grart. The best time, as 
far as days and months are concerned, varies of 
course with the locality and latitude; butasa 
rule we would lay down that the vine cannot be 
grafted with good success, either while the sap 
is running so freely and liquid as to cause the 
vine when cut to bleed, as it is termed, nor yet 
(except by the process of inarching, of which 
hereafter) from the time when the young shoots 
in the Spring, or rather early Summer, begin to 
turn hard and fibrous, which generally com- 
mences about the time of the bloom, until after 
the fall of the leaf. This reduces the time for 
successful grafting to two periods, the first one 
lying between the fall of the leaf and the rising 
of active circulation in Spring, and the second 
one commencing after this exceeding strong 
flow of sap has abated and lasting until the full 
development of the first young growth. 
the more Southern States grafting may be 
successfully and practically performed during 
the first period. In fact, Dr. A. P. Wylie of 
— S. C., that veteran and snthosieiin 
grower, upon whose opinion we lay the 
Sakae weight, informs us that the Fall or early 
Winter is in that latitude the proper time for 
grafting. Further north, and even in the lati- 
tude of St. Louis, Fall grafting is not quite as 
certain, for even when protected by a mulch of 
straw or leaves the graft is in danger of being 
thrown out by the heaving of the ground caused 
by the frost. In this latitude however we often 
have fine days in February and early in March, 
when the ground is open and before the active 
flow of sap has commenced, which should be 
improved for the operation. Still further North 
where the ground opens late, and Spring comes 
in all at once, these days are gencrally so few 
that they can seldom be made use of. For these 
latitudes the best opportunity lies in the second 
period or during the time the sap has ceased its 
active flow and exudes from the wound in a 
gummy state. Some have even claimed good 
success in mid-summer with scions of the same 
season’s growth, but we must confess ourselves 
as extremely dubious in regard to the success 
of this. 
We now come to the operation itself. The 
method most generally applied is cleft grafting 
After clearing away the soil around the collar 
of the stock to be operated upon, to the depth 
of 3 or 4 inches, select a place below the surface 
with a smooth exterior around the collar, cut 
the vine off horizontally just above this place 
with a fine toothed saw; then split the stock 
with a common grafting chise! or other sharp 
instrument, so that the cleft will rnn down 
about 14 or 2inches. Insert the small end of 
the grafting chisel or a narrow wedge in the 
centre of the cleft to keep it open, and then 
with a very sharp knife, cut your scion, which 
may be 8 to 4 inches long, and with one or two 
eyes, to a long wedge shape at the lower end, to 
fit the cleft, leaving the outer side a trifle 
thicker than the inner one, and insert it in the 
cleft, so that the inner bark of both stock and 
scion make a close fit on each other as much as 
possible; then withdraw the wedge in the cen- 
tre, and the scion will be held firmly in its — 
' place by the pressure of the stock. It is not 
necessary to wrap or tie such grafts, except 
when the stock is a very light and small one, in 
which. case some bass string or other material 
should be tightly wound around to bind stock 
and graft together. If the stock is a large one 
two scions may be inserted, one on each side. 
This mode of grafting answers for stocks vary- 
ing from one-half to three inches in diameter. 
To complete the operation, replace the soil, fill- 
ing it up, so that the upper bud on the scion is 
level with the surface. A shade placed so as to 
protect it from the noon-day sun, or a slight 
mulch, is very desirable. 
Another mode of cleft grafting, which though 
a little more tedious, is perhaps also that much 
more certain, is to saw a slit in the stock about 
one and a half inches deep with a thick bladed 
or wide set saw, instead of using the chisel. 
The cleft thus made must be spread open suffi- 
cient only to receive the scion, which must be 
cut to fit nicely in the slit with its upper por- 
tion resting, with a square shoulder each side, on 
the stock. In this instance we prefer a graft 
with two buds, the lower one of which should 
be the point where to cut the shoulders. In 
other respects the same rules apply to this mode 
as those given before. The greatest advantage 
is that we can always make a clean straight 
cleft, even when the stock is gnarly or twisted. 
