660 



GRAFTAGE 



GRAFTAGE 



religiously observed, to insert the graft during the 

 moon's increase." 



The accompanying cut (Fig. 0.30) reproduced exact 

 size from Robert ^^harrock's "History of the Propaga- 

 tion and Improvement of Vegetables," 1672, shows va- 

 rious binds of grafting in vogue over two centuries ago. 

 Following is tht.- literal explanation of the plate : 



k. 



OOT'l. 



rl. 



c»30. Sharrock s illustration of the modes of Graft nf, 1572. 



The Exemplificafioa of tlw Operations hy the Fii/nrr. 



a. Denotes the ordinary cuttingof tliehark for inofnI;i,tinn. 

 b b. The sides of the bark lifted up for the putting in »>t the 

 shield, 

 f. The shield taken off with the bud, which lirs iindec tlu.i 

 stalk of the leitf cut off. 

 In. The shield put into the stoc-k 1o he houml up, 

 d. The bark cut out in an fililnni; sijujire, iccording to an- 

 other usual way r.f inficuhition. 



y. The shield fut out for the fitting the disbarked square. 

 n. The same shield put into the stock. 



/. A variation of the forenientioned way, by cuttingoff the 

 , upper p;irt of the oblique square, and binding the 

 lower part down upon tlie shield, 

 o. The shield so put in to Ije bound xip. 



€. Another vaidatiou by slitting the bark, that the bud and 

 leaf may stand forth at e, and the bark slit be bound 

 down upon the shield. 

 h. A cross cut for inoculation. 



('. The same cross cut lifted up, in this figure soraewh;it 

 too big. 

 The shield cut off to he put therein. 

 The shield put in. 



The cut of eyon or stock for whip-grafting. 

 The cut of cyon and stock for shoulder-grafting. 

 The cut of the cyons and slit of the stock for grafting 

 in the cleft. 

 X. The stock set for ablactation or approach. 

 w. The cyon of tlie brancli for the same operation. 

 1 2. The branch that is to he taken off by eircumposition. 



3. The branch that bears up the moid to the disbarked 

 place. 



4. The branch of a carnation to be laid. 



5. The joynt where the slit begins. 



6. The next joynt where the slit is propped open, with a 

 piece of a carnation leaf put in. 



Herein are seen the germs of all the grafting practices 

 of the present day, together with some practices of 

 layering. Sharrock treated the whole subject of graft- 

 ing under the head ^of "Insitions," and here he mi- 

 nutely de-scribes the cleft-graft, and speaks gf it as 

 "the common way of grafting." The practice which we 

 now know as inarching or grafting by approach, he sig- 

 niticantly calls "Ablactation " (that is, sucklivg or icean- 

 i)ig). Now^ that so much is said about the proper and 

 careful selection of cions, it is interesting to read Sbar- 

 rock's advice on this subject : "Good bearing trees arc 

 made from Cyons of the like fruitfulness. *" * Cyons 

 are best chosen from the fairest, strongest sbuits, not 

 from under shoots or suckers, which will he long ere 

 they bear fruit, which is contrary to the intention of 

 grafting." Bat we have seen that Pliny gave similar 

 advice before the Christian era, — which is only another 

 illustration of the fact that most of uur current notion'- 

 have their roots deep in the past. 



The chief office of grafting is to perpetuate a variety. 

 It is employed in those cases in which plants do not hear 

 seeds, or in which the seeds do not come true or 

 are difficult to germinate, or when the plants do 

 not propagate well bj' cuttings or layers. It I3 / " 



also employed to increase the ease and speed of r / 

 multiplying plants. A third office is to produce ^^j 

 some radical cliange in the nature of the cion, fl /( 

 as rendering it more dwarf, more fruitful, or 

 otherwise changing its habit. A fourth general 

 office of grafting is to adapt plants to adverse 

 soils or climates. An example is the very 

 general use of the peach root in the south- 

 ern states upon which to work the plum, \^'i 

 as the peach thrives better than the plum |i" 

 in sandy soils. The practice in Russia of t^ 

 ^--orking the apple on roots of the Siberian Ml 

 crab is an example of an effort to make a j-j 

 plant better able to witiistand a very se- U 

 vere climate. }~\\ 



In common practice, the effect of the H [' 

 stock on the cion is rather more a mechan- v 

 ical or physical one than physiological or it\. 

 chemical. Tlic infiuences are very largely ]{_]' 

 those wbicli arc associated with greater or 

 less ffrriwtli. As a rule, each part of the 

 combiui'd plant— the stock and cion — 

 maintains ils individuality. There are cer- 

 tain cases, Jiowever, in which the cion 

 seems to partake of the nature of the 

 stock ; and others in which the stock par- 

 takes of the nature of the cion. There are 

 recorded instances of a distinct change in the 

 flavor of fruit when the cion is ytut upon stock 

 wbicii bears fruit of very diff(U"cut character. Iif p' 

 There are some varieties of a]iples and pears I 

 which, when worked upon a seedling root, will /■ ' 

 tend to change the habit of growth of that root. 

 Examples are Northern Spy and Whitney ap- 931. Stick 

 pies, which, when grafted on a root of unknown of buds. 

 parentage, tend to make that root grow very (X ^l ' 



