THE HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



167 



system for stocks. Not a few transplant them 

 several times before finally lining them out for graft- 

 ing. The plants should not be beheaded when first 

 lined out, unless in the case of very lanky seedlings. 

 The top stimulates the roots, and the more of the 

 latter, and also of leading and lateral shoots, the 

 sooner the seedlings will be ready for grafting. 



The time varies according to the climate, soil, and 

 objects for which the stocks are required. These for 

 standard or orchard trees will take three or four years 

 to reach a height of five or six feet. Some stocks 

 will need two or three years, whereas for dwarfs the 

 stocks may be grafted a year after being lined out. 



G-rafting. — This is the general method for pro- 

 pagating all the varieties of the Apple. Any of 

 the methods of grafting will answer for the Apple, 

 but in practice only two of these are much used — 

 orown grafting for larger stocks, and whip or splice 

 grafting for the raising of young trees.* In the 

 former from three to seven scions may be readily in- 

 serted into the crown of a beheaded Apple-tree ; in 

 the latter there is but one scion to a stock, and the 

 nearer these two approximate to one size, the more 

 certain the success, and the more perfect and com- 

 plete the union of scion and stock into one tree. 



Four things are needful to success in grafting — a 

 healthy stock, a proper scion, uniting force, and 

 good workmanship. Sufficient has been said about 

 stocks. We have seen that they are raised from 

 cuttings, layers,* suckers, or seeds. So soon as 

 grown to a diameter of about an inch they are fit 

 for grafting. To prove successful, however, thej 

 should be vigorous, healthy, and hardy. It is this 

 latter quality that gives peculiar value to the wild 

 ■Crab as a stock for the Apple in the cooler parts of 

 Great Britain. Neither the Nonsuch, Codlin, Eng- 

 lish or French Paradise are so hardy as the Crab ; 

 hence the preference for this stock for orchards and 

 large trees for espaliers and walls. 



The Time and Height of Heading down 

 Stocks. — This may vary considerably, according to 

 locality. The middle of January or early in Feb- 

 ruary is, on the whole, the best time. It is impor- 

 tant to head down before the sap moves much, as 

 otherwise there may be a gTcat M^aste of force. 

 Others, however, defer heading down the stocks 

 until the end of February or early in March, at 

 which time the bark will run freely, and the be- 

 heading and grafting may proceed abreast. As to 

 the height of stem left, that must be determined by 



* Tending treatment uuder tlie head of Propagation, 

 the general nature of both these processes may be suffi- 

 ciently gathered from the paragraphs on grafting Eoses 

 (p. 213, Vol, I.). 



circumstances ; from six to nine inches from the 

 root is the best height for dwarfs. Half-standards 

 may have a yard of stock left, and tall orchard trees 

 five or six feet. Some cultivators, however, prefer 

 to work all their stocks low, and allow the scions to 

 form their own stems afterwards. It is good prac- 

 tice to behead the stocks within an inch or so 

 of a bud, as this sustains vigorous vital action at a 

 point where it is much needed to hasten and perfect 

 the union between the stock and the scion. In the 

 case of whip grafting it is equally important to stop 

 the scion to a bud at the base of the sloping cut, 

 and thus provide an active centre of vitality at the 

 crown and base of the mutilated portion of the stock. 



Scions.— First of all, these should be removed 

 from the trees at the end of December at the latest, 

 and laid in the ground in single file, with just the 

 tips of the shoots left out. This is done to keep the 

 growth of the stem a full month or so in arrear of 

 the stock, and to insure that the scions when used 

 shall be fully furnished with dormant and not 

 moving sap. To make security doubly sure on this 

 point, the scions should be laid in on a north border, 

 and left in the ground till wanted for use. 



Character of Apple Scions. — Young shoots 

 of average size of the current year's wood form 

 the most suitable size. Strong shoots, or what 

 the French call gourmands, are to be rejected. The 

 scions should also be well ripened. They may vary 

 in length from six inches to a foot. If, however, 

 suitable in other respects, the shorter almost the 

 better. But Apples vary very considerably in the 

 length of their intemodes or spaces between the 

 buds, and it is desirable to leave two or even three 

 buds clear of this and above the uniting portion of 

 scion and stock : an average of nine inches or so 

 will be found convenient in practice. For crown 

 grafting the size of the scion is not material, but for 

 whip grafting the nearer the scion and stock ap- 

 proximate to one size the better. The middle por- 

 tion of the shoot has also been held to form, the best 

 scion, and in almost all cases the base is removed 

 and the top cut off. 



But all this care about stock and scion would fail 

 were there any deficiency or misplacement of uniting 

 force. Assuming that grafting is properly timed, a 

 sufficiency of vital force is imured ; but failure may 

 arise from misplacement of force, and hence the 

 very great importance of placing the inner bark or 

 cambium of the scion and the stock together along- 

 several points or the whole line of contact if pos- 

 sible. It is this perfect placing of uniting parts that 

 commands the high percentage of success in whip 

 grafting. With stock and scion of equal diameters, 



