962 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



more freely from old wood, as is the case with Rhopala corco- 

 vadensis^ &c. Branches three or four years old will root quite 

 as successfully as herbaceous cuttings for soft-wooded ones. 



Grafting. 



Grafting was well described by AI. Baltet, a well-known 

 French author, as " The triumph of Art over Nature." If it is 

 the most artificial mode of propagation, it is nevertheless one of 

 the most useful ; and to this art we owe the acclimatisation of 

 many of our fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs. It is well 

 known that some trees will not thrive on their own roots in a 

 certain ground, but if grafted on suitable stocks they will thrive 

 admirably. Grafts also are most useful in the propagation of 

 fruit-trees, chiefly those raised from seeds and which would 

 otherwise require several years before bearing fruits, whereas 

 if grafted they are brought into bearing condition in a much 

 shorter time. 



A graft is a living part of a plant, tree, or shrub, which has 

 been entirely removed, and cut in such a way as to make it fit 

 into a recess made in the stock plant, when the two parts (the 

 graft, or scion, and the stock plant) will unite if analogy between 

 them exists, and the stock will supply nourishment to the scion. 

 Analogy in this case may be described as follows : the scion 

 and stock should belong at least to the same order, so that 

 the similarity required will be found. Even if the stock 

 belong to another tribe, the analogy or natural affinity will be 

 quite sufficient. Grafting is not only employed in propagation, 

 but is also very useful in the fixing of variations or sports which 

 would perhaps not be truly reproduced by seeds or cuttings, 

 such as variegated leaves, double flowers, &c., and in the 

 renovation of old fruit-trees. Like cutting and layering, grafting 

 always reproduces the typical plant without any modification ; 

 and this result cannot be secured with seeds. 



Selection of Stocks. — A first necessity is to select for stock 

 a good growing plant, well rooted, free from disease, and 

 capable of reaching the same development as the plant from 

 which the graft, or scion, is taken, so that it will be capable 

 of feeding the latter at any time. Without this precaution the 

 graft would probably exhaust the stock, and this would after- 

 wards prove detrimental to the plant. For certain purposes, the 

 practice usually followed is to graft a strong-growing species or 

 variety on to a small, weak-growing one, as in the case of 

 Apples and Pears when dwarf bushes are required. Several 

 other things have to be taken in consideration in the selection 

 of stocks, for in many cases stock and scion have to be of 

 the same dimensions. In regard to trees and shrubs the nature 

 of the soil must also be taken into account. 



