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Chapter V. 

 GKAFTING AND BUDDING. 



W. W. CHBNOWETH, PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURAL MANUFACTURES, 

 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



Grafting and budding are the practical means employed to 

 reproduce established varieties of fruit trees. This is made 

 necessary because the tree fruits do not come true to name 

 from seeds. While the two operations have the same ob- 

 jectives, the method of manipulation and the season of doing 

 the work vary so much that for purposes of clearness they 

 will be discussed separately. 



Grafting. 



Grafting consists in placing a portion of a plant upon or 

 into another plant or upon a different place of the same plant 

 in such a way that the growing areas of the two are in con- 

 tact and their permanent union results. 



This actively growing area referred to above is found just 

 beneath the bark and is technically known as the cambium 

 layer. When growth begins in the spring, i.e., when the 

 leaves are unfolded, the cambium becomes so filled with food 

 materials (sap) that the bark readily separates from the wood, 

 or in common parlance the bark "slips." It must be noted 

 that in every type of grafting and budding the success of the 

 operation depends upon having the cambium, or growing 

 areas of scion and stock, in intimate contact. 



The part of the plant transferred is called the scion. It is 

 the part of the graft which produces the tree or the branch, 

 and will produce the same kind of fruit as the branch from which 

 it was taken. The scions for grafting are best if cut from the 

 terminal shoots of the past season's growth. These shoots or 

 twigs should be well matured and the buds should be plump 



