AMERU!AN HUME GARDEN. 



441 



Fig. 300. 



sprout, which, being strained oiFa 

 very little from the plant, is bent 

 and pinned down just enough to 

 open the slit and set the tongue 

 bud fairly in the soil, and allow 

 of covering it about one inch and 

 a half deep. See Figiu-e. The 

 hill should be carefully mulched, 

 and watered regularly at evening 

 until the layers are rooted. 



BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 



Various fancy forest trees and shrubs are budded or grafted, 

 grafting being generally preferred for these, perhaps without 

 good reason. For the mode of grafting, see page 229. 



The lighter-gTowing kinds of Cactus are often grafted upon, 

 or rather planted in those of stronger growth, by a simple yet 

 curious and successful process. Stocks of suitable strength 

 are raised from cuttings, which root readily if planted in sand 

 after being cut a day or two. The graft is dressed to a thin 

 but quite short wedge ; the stock is cut off, and the graft 

 wedge set into the heart of it, in a slit made with the point of 

 a knife, or a bone or wooden wedge, the sides of the stock re- 

 maining uncleft, and, instead of binding, a small wooden skew- 

 er, or a long, slim thorn from a large cactus is then passed 

 through the stock and graft, pinning the latter to its place. In 

 a short time the graft (really the cutting) throws its roots 

 downward through the substance of the stock, and grows finely. 



The operation of budding ornamental trees, as well as or- 

 anges, &c., among green-house plants, is performed in the com- 

 mon mode, descriljed page 220. Roses also arc budded pre- 

 cisely as fruit-trees, except that some extra care is required in 

 the operation, on account of their comparative smallness, their 

 thominess, and the softer and more stringy natm-e of their bark. 



All the autumnal and ever-blooming classes of roses, if 

 budded early in the summer, and cut do-svn at the time of bud- 

 ding to within four or six inches of the bud, will grow and 

 blossom in the course of the same season. 



T 2 



