THE ART 



OF 



GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 



"You see, sweet maid, we marry 

 A gentle scion to the wildest stock ; 

 And make conceive a "bark of baser kind 

 By bud of nobler race ; this is an art 

 Which does mend nature : change it rather : but 

 The art itself is nature."— Shakespeaeb. 



DEFINITION AND AIM OF GRAFTING, 



Geapting is an operation which, consists in uniting a plant, 

 or a portion of a plant, to another which will support it, and 

 furnish it with a part of the nutriment necessary for its 

 growth. The plant which receives the graft should be 

 furnished with roots ; it is destined to draw nutriment from 

 the soil, and transmit it to the part grafted. It is called the 

 stock. We shall mention a few exceptions where the stock is 

 a simple cutting without roots ; but it is planted in such a 

 manner as to be soon furnished with them. The other plant, 

 Or portion of plant, which is grafted on the stock, should have 

 at least one shoot or eye, and be in good condition— that is, 

 neither withered, nor mouldy, nor decayed, nor wet. It is 

 called the graft or scion ; it is analagous to a cutting in 

 communication with the soil, and continues its normal growth 

 through the intervention of the stock. Notwithstanding the 

 intimate union of the stock and the graft, they preserve their 



