198 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



more than two grafts, instead of splitting the trunk 

 diametrically several times, it is preferable to make 

 lateral clefts which, leaving the center untouched, 

 cause less danger to the solidity of the stock. 



"Eecourse can also be had to the following method, 

 in which no clefts whatever are called for, clefts be- 

 ing difficult to cicatrize when the wood is old. The 

 grafts are cut like the mouthpiece of a flute ; that is 

 to say, at the base half is taken off lengthwise while 

 the other half is left, but is whittled down, thinner 

 and thinner toward the end, much like a flute's 

 mouthpiece. Thus shaped, the grafts are inserted 

 between the wood and the bark of the stock, an opera- 

 tion facilitated by the flow of sap in the spring, when 

 the bark separates easily from the wood. If there 

 is danger of tearing the bark under the strain of 

 the graft acting as a wedge, a slight incision is made 

 in the bark to give it the play it needs. In this way 

 the circumference of the stock receives the number 

 of grafts deemed necessary. It only remains now 

 to bind the whole securely and cover the wounds 

 with mastic. This method is called crown-grafting, 

 because the grafts are arranged in a crown on the 

 circumference of the cross-section. 



"Grafting by buds corresponds to that variety of 

 slipping in which buds, each one by itself on a small 

 fragment of the branch, are set into the ground. It 

 consists in transplanting on the stock a simple bud 

 with the bit of bark that bears it. It is the method 

 most commonly employed. According to the time 

 of year when the operation is undertaken, the graft 



