142 



SOILS AND PLANT LIFE 



Small twigs can be grafted upon the larger limbs of 

 trees in this way, and the twigs and branches will imite, 

 the joint becoming quite smooth. In fact, this graft is 

 often used on mature trees to grow a different variety or 

 perhaps several varieties of fruit upon the same tree. 

 This work should be done in the spring just as 

 the tree resumes its growth. Each one of us can 

 make a graft of this kind upon a tree at home. 



The stone fruits, such as the cherry, plum and 

 peach, do not produce roots suitable for grafting. 

 Moreover, the gum which comes out on the cut 

 interferes with this method of propagation. We 

 propagate these trees, then, not by grafting but 

 by budding. The seed of one, say a peach, is 

 ll'l planted, and when it is a few months old, a 

 p| single bud taken from the tree which we wish 



to propagate is put into the 

 stem or trunk, in the manner 

 shown in the next exercise. 



EXERCISE 41 



Object. — To learn how 

 plants are propagated by bud- 

 ding. 



Procedure. — Procure some 

 fresh twigs of an apple or peach 

 tree, a sharp pocket knife and 

 some common wrapping cord. 

 Place the twigs in water for twenty-four hours in order 

 to make the bark shp easily. If this work is done in the 

 spring, soon after the leaves have expanded, the twigs 

 may be used as soon as gathered. Cut the cord into pieces 

 from eight to ten inches in length. 



A B 



Fig. 52. — The cleft graft. 



