PROPAGATION BY GBAFTING. 



205 



the operation are seldom or never entirely obliterated. 

 It is, howeTsr, extensively employed in re-grafting old 

 orchards, and in utilizing large stocks, in order to obtain 

 bearing trees in less time than if smaller and younger 

 ones were used. 



The stock is first cut off at a point where it is desirable 

 to insert the cion ; it is then split with a large knife or 

 thin chisel — ^being careful to divide the bark at the same 



Tig 78. 



tJSE or THE WEDGE. 



CLEFT ORAFTINQ. 



Fig. 79. 

 CION AMD STOCK. 



time, leaving the edges smooth. When the knife is with- 

 drawn, an iron, or hard-wood, wedge is inserted in the 

 center or at the side of the stock, as shown in figure 78 ; 

 the cion, a, figure 79, is then cut in the form of a wedge, 

 b, and fitted into the cleft, c; the wedge is then with-, 

 drawn, and the elasticity of the stock will hold it in its 

 place. Grafting-wax is then applied, entirely covering 

 the wound. When the stock is an inch or more in diam- 

 eter, two cions may be inserted, one on each side, the 

 operator being careful to place the external surface of the 

 wound — not bark — of both cion and stock exactly even : 



