GRAFTING AND BUDDING, 



88 



from exposure to the air or other adverse influences, very 

 much promote the union of the graft. The stock is a young 

 plant which has been potted and allowed to grow in the open 

 air for about a season. When it is time to graft it, it is put 

 under cover. There are, however, certain shrubs which may 

 be grafted at the time when the stock is potted ; such as the 

 Holly, Ehododendrons, dwarf Biotas, and most shrubs the 

 roots of which readily group themselves into a ball. The 

 best seasons for grafting under glass are from January to 

 March, and from July to September. Beyond the shelter of 

 the greenhouse or other covering, no artificial heat from 

 manure, hot-air or hot-water pipes will be required ; and as 

 the stocks are not exposed to the action of the sun, frost, or 

 other atmospheric influences, the grafts will not need the pro- 

 tection of grafting-clay or wax. In times of great heat, the 

 glass of the house, frame, or cloche is covered on the outside 

 with a mixture of the colouring-stuff called et English Green" 

 and whiting, or simply with whiting dissolved in water or 

 milk ; mats, canvas, or screens made with twigs or small 

 branches of broom, heath, or birch may also be used for this 

 purpose. These, if steeped in a solution of sulphate of copper, 

 will not so soon decay. 



Grafting Under the Cloche. 

 This is the most simple method of grafting under glass, 

 no house or other shelter than that of the cloche being 

 required. A quadrangular bed of river-sand is made suffi- 

 ciently broad to contain two or three rows of ordinary cloches. 

 In February or March, sometimes in July, the stocks are 

 grafted in pots, and plunged in groups in the sand under 

 the cloches. The rim of the cloche is sunk in the sand, so as 

 to exclude the air completely from the plants, and they are 

 left so for six weeks. By that time the union of the grafts 



will be perfected. The cloches are then gradually raised for 



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