342 HOW TO- KEEP SCIONS FRESH. 



' known by the inexperienced. In general scions ought to be of 

 medium thickness, excepting those having slender wood, in 

 which case the thickest ought to be preferred ; all should have 

 made the greater part of -their growth, so that the buds on the 

 lower part of the shoots may be completely formed. If the 

 parts are too tender and soft when adapted to the stock, they 

 are apt to be rotted by the abundance of sap in the latter 

 which ought always to be in greater flow than that of the scions. 

 When prepared for working, scions should not be exposed to 

 the air, but be kept in a cool moist place till they can be 

 budded ; but under all circumstances they must be so packed 

 as to run no risk of heating. French gardeners often place 

 them in the hollow of an old Cucumber, and, according to 

 D'Albret, even pack them in honey, without injury, if they have 

 far and long to travel. 



"It has been long known that in order to preserve grafts, especially 

 for transportation, they ought to he separated from the parent tree 

 before they have begun to grow. In the cUmate of Paris, the month 

 of Pebruary appears to be the best time for taking them off; they ought 

 then to be placed in a northern exposure, in a horizontal position, on 

 the ground, and covered with earth to the depth of about two inches 

 and a half. They should remain in that position till their buds are weU 

 swelled, by which time the stock intended for their reception will be 

 much more advanced, a necessary condition of success. If scions have 

 to be conveyed to a distance, it is best to send them off as soon as they 

 are taken from the tree. If the journey require only three weeks or a 

 month, it is sufficient to tie them up in packets, putting some dry moss 

 between them, in order to prevent their being bruised, aiad to insert 

 their biises in a ball of moist clay covered with fresh moss, the whole 

 tightly enveloped in a thin coating of straw. But if the cuttings have 

 to be sent to a great distance, so as to be several months on the way, 

 they should be enclosed in a box, in small parcels, all laid with their 

 tops in the same direction, their thick ends covered with clay and fresh 

 moss, the whole compactly fastened with laths likewise coated with 

 moss. If for a long sea-voyage care should be taken to close the box 

 hermetically, some holes being made in the top to prevent the shoots 

 from becoming mouldy. I have sent grafts packed in this way to 

 3t. Petersburg, New York, &c., and they have always arrived in good 

 oondition." — D'Albret. 



So long as it was believed that absolute wood was formed 

 corporeally from above downwards, it was inferred that the 



