PROPAGATION^. 



29 



flat-bladed knife to cut the faces, and another knife for other 

 purposes. Fig. 29. 



2. The second requires that the jaws of the stock, in cleft- 

 grafting, press with some force, but not too much, against the 



wedge-shaped sides of the graft. A 

 stock one-third of an inch in diameter 

 will sometimes do this sufRciently ; 

 but three quarters of an inch is a more 

 convenient size. In whip-grafting, 

 the tongue and slit should be firmly 

 crowded or bound together. 



3. The third requisite is attained 

 by close examination with the eye. 



4. The fourth is accomplished by 

 plasters of grafting-wax, or by the 

 application of grafting-clay. Graft- 

 ing-wax may be purchased of any 

 seedsman, or if preferred for any 

 reason it may be made by melting to- 

 gether rosin, tallow, and beeswax. 

 An excellent grafting-wax is made of 

 three parts of rosin, three of beeswax, 

 and two of tallow. A cheaper com- 

 position, but more liable to adhere to the hands, is made of four 

 parts of rosin, two of tallow, and one of beeswax. These ingre- 

 dients, after being melted and mixed together, may be applied 

 in different ways. The wax may be directly applied when 

 just warm enough to run, by means of a brush ; or it may be 

 spread thickly with a brush over sheets of muslin, which are 

 afterward, during a cold day, cut up into plasters of conve- 

 nient size for applying ; or, the wax, after becoming cold, may 

 be worked up with wet or oiled hands, drawn into thin strips 

 or ribbons, and wrapped closely around the inserted graft. In 

 all cases success is more certain, when the wax is pressed 

 so as to fit to every part, and leave no interstices ; and it is 

 indispensable that every portion of the wound on the stock 

 and graft be totally excluded from the external air. In cool 

 weather, a lantern, or hot brick, or some other method of 

 obtaining heat will be found necessary to soften the plasters 

 before applying them. 



Fig. 29. — Grafting, Budding 

 and Pruning Knives. 



