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THE AUT OP 



period, the shoots of the stock are to be pinched, but not cut 

 off altogether. They will continue to draw the sap towards 

 the graft. This kind of grafting has succeeded better with 

 us under glass than in the open air ; however, we have 

 thought it better to mention it, as it has succeeded with 

 the air excluded, and also because it may be tried on other 

 plants. 



Terminal Grafting of the Pine. 



The varieties of the pine, Piceas, Abies, &c, of which the 

 stem increases every year by a whorl of branches and a 

 leading shoot not branched, may be propagated by means of 

 this method, which is practised in the open air in April and 

 May, when the buds of the pine begin to swell. The scion 

 (A), taken from the top of a branch, is a shoot of the pre- 

 ceding year crowned with its terminal buds. It is cut on 

 both sides in a slightly slanting direction, as at a, and 

 introduced into the top of the shoot (C) of the stock (B) in 

 a longitudinal cleft made between two buds of the crown at 

 their junction near the central bud ; this cleft may be partial 

 or entire (&). The insertion having been made (as at d), it is 

 bandaged with wool or cotton and covered with mastic ; the 

 graft is then surrounded with a sheet of paper, in order to 

 preserve it, when it begins to sprout,, from the action of the 

 sun and hot winds. At the same time the shoots of the 

 upper whorl of the stock are cut to half their length ; the 

 slender ones may be bent downwards. The object of this 

 precaution is to divert a larger supply of sap to the graft. 

 No part of the stock except the upper whorl is to be thus 

 cut. Even afterwards the branches of the stock must not be 

 too closely pruned. If they extend too much, a moderate 

 pinching in summer will suffice to check them. The stock 

 may be grafted at any age, and either in the open air or under 



