16 CULTIVATION 



the bark of it, and a little of the wood all round 

 within an inch and a quarter of the lower end, fit 

 it to the hole, and push it in till the shoulder of the 

 bark made by the cutting, comes down to the 

 sawed surface of the stock, and if the stock is 

 large enough to require two or three grafts, after 

 having fitted them all in, I return the earth, leaving 

 only one or two buds above the ground as above, 

 and the work is done. As this last method of 

 grafting usually succeeds as well as the first, it 

 would seem to indicate that it is unnecessary in 

 grafting the vine, that the bark of the stock and 

 that of the scion, should coincide exactly, as it 

 must in all other kinds of fruit. 



" I have generally succeeded best when 1 have 

 grafted late in the spring, and just before the buds 

 of the vine burst into leaves; that is, when the sap 

 is flowing pretty freely. It is, however, a matter of 

 some importance, that the scions should have been 

 kept back if possible, so that their buds are only 

 beginning to swell, and this must regulate the time 

 of grafting. They may be kept back by burying 

 them in as cold a place as possible, as the north 

 side' of a house, or in a box of sand placed in an 

 ice-house. The scion thus kept back may be used 

 with complete success, so late as when the vine for 

 the stock is in full leaves." 



One writer recommends grafting the vine about 

 the 25th of June, when the foliage is fully expanded, 

 if the scions can be kept back; and others prefer to 

 have it done as soon as the frost leaves the ground. 



