ON PLANT PROPAGATION. 



Season. — Grafting is practicable nearly all the year round, 

 everything depending on the nature of the plants and on the 

 kind of graft to be used. In most cases it is performed 

 when the sap is "in function" — that is to say, in the spring, 

 just when it starts, and at the end of the summer, just before 

 it finishes. The summer graft is not to be recommended, 

 because the sap is then too full of activity. If grafting is 

 done in the autumn with ligneous branches, preference must 

 be given to well-ripened wood of the current year, which must 

 be lised as soon as the branches have been cut. Should the 

 grafts have to be transplanted, all the leaves must be removed, 

 and the portion which has been cut may be fixed in a potato 

 or beetroot, which must be kept moist and in a position where 

 air will not reach them. When grafting is done in the spring, it 

 is often noticed that the branches of deciduous trees or shrubs 

 begin to grow, which is very detrimental to their welfare. To 

 prevent this it is advisable to cut off the required parts 

 or branches during the winter, and to plant them in a shady 

 place, where they will also be protected from sharp frosts. 

 For exotics with ligneous branches that have to be grafted, no 

 particular period can be mentioned, but preference is given 

 to the spring or autumn. All the herbaceous grafts, and also 

 the evergreen ones, require a greater amount of precaution than 

 any of the others above-mentioned, and herbaceous grafts must, 

 during their propagating period, be kept in a closer tempera- 

 ture, and in a place where they are less likely to be affected by 

 air than would be the case normally. It is advisable, when such 

 plants have to be grafted, to grow the stocks in small pots, so 

 that when the operation has been satisfactorily performed they 

 can easily be placed in frames under lights or bell-glasses in a 

 house, for grafts succeed much better when they are entirely 

 deprived of air. Grafting has been divided into over one hundred 

 different classes, each with its own apphcation, but in many 

 instances the variation between these separate classes is very 

 slight. It would not be of interest to describe all, but half-a- 

 dozen of the principal methods are dealt with. 



Whip- or Tongue-Grafting is of general value, and can be 

 used for the propagation of a great number of fruit and orna- 

 mental trees and shrubs, e.g., Ceratoiiia, Castanea (Chestnut), 

 Anona, Euonymus, Magnolia, Negundo, Citrus (Orange Tree), 

 Fassiflora, Tacsonia, Tilia, Liriodend^-ou, Rhamniis, and Arbutus. 

 The stock and graft should be as near as possible of the same 

 dimensions, and Fig. 626 will enable anyone to understand the 

 description. On the left, a shows the stock which can be 

 potted up in regard to small subjects ; b, in the middle, shows 

 the scion ; and c, on the right, shows the graft executed. Both 

 parts (stock and scion) should be cut alike, but reversed, as 

 shown in the illustration. The scion (b) must be cut from d to e, 



3 Q 2 



