74 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



covered with the composition so as to exclude all air and 

 moisture. 



Root Grafting. — ^Both these modes are successfully ap- 

 plied in root grafting. The best stocks for the purpose 

 are seedlings which are cut off at the collar and grafts in- 

 serted in one or the other of these modes, according to 

 the size of the stock. If such stocks cannot be got, roots 

 of thriftv trees may be employed, but are more apt to 

 produce diseased trees. This can be performed at any 

 leisure time during the winter, and they should be set out 

 at once and covered about an inch above the point of junc- 

 tion with soil. Many do not apply any composition in 

 root grafting, and just cover the wound with soil ; but the 

 loss is more than enough to render the use of the wax advi- 

 sable. Clay instead of wax is used in all kinds of graft- 

 ing, but the wax is much the best. 



In grafting, as in budding, always have sharp instru- 

 ments ; make the cuts clean and smooth ; bring the inner 

 bark of stock and scion in close contact, by a permanent 

 pressure of the stock upon its scion ; the top of the scion 

 should be cut off next to a bud, and have a bud just be- 

 neath the shoulder where it unites with the stock ; every 

 portion of the wound should be perfectly covered with 

 the composition, and the stock and scion must correspond, 

 not only in their nature, but in their habits of growth. 



In-arching or Grafting hy approach. — This mode is prac- 

 tised with Camellias and Magnolias. A branch is bent and 

 partly cut through, and the heel, thus formed is slipped 

 into a slit made downward in the stock to receive it ; the 

 parts are then made to meet as exactly as possible, and 

 are bound with bass strings, and covered with grafting 

 clay, or with the composition. In five or six months the 

 union is complete, and the in-arched plant maybe separated 

 from its parent, which is done with a sharp knife so as to 



