154 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
the cleft-graft (Fig. 176). This consists in cutting off the 
stock, splitting it, and inserting a wedge-shaped cion in one or 
both sides of the split, taking care that the cambium layer of 
the cion matches that of the stock. The exposed surfaces are 
then securely covered with wax. 
Grafting is usually performed early in the spring, just before 
the buds swell. The cions should have been cut before this 
nS when they were perfectly dormant. Cions may be stored 
7 in sand in the cellar or in the ice-house, or they 
may be buried in the field. The object is to 
keep them fresh and dormant until they are 
wanted. 
If it is desired to change the top of an old plum, 
apple, or pear tree to some other variety, it is 
usually accomplished by means of the cleft-graft. 
If the tree is very young, budding or whip graft- 
ing may be employed. On an old top the cions 
should begin to bear when three to four years old. 
All the main limbs should be grafted. It is im- 
gee oma aol portant to keep down the suckers or watersprouts 
ing. ~~ from around the grafts, and part of the remaining 
top should be cut away each year until the top is entirely 
changed over (which will result in two to four years). 
A good wax for covering the exposed parts is described in 
the footnote on page 145. 
Keeping records of the plantation. 
If one has a large and valuable collection of fruit or orna- 
mental plants, it is desirable that he have some permanent 
record of them. The most satisfactory method is to label the 
plants, and then to make a chart or map on which the various 
plants are indicated in their proper positions. The labels are 
always liable to be lost and to become illegible, and they are 
often misplaced by careless workmen or mischievous boys. 
