126 



THE ART OP 



excluded. If it is apprehended that drops of condensed vapour 

 may find their way into the cleft of the graft, the pots should 

 be plunged in a sloping direction under the light or cloche. 

 As soon as the scion has begun to shoot, air should be admitted 

 by degrees. As the cut part of the scion is not entirely 

 inserted in the cleft, and as the stock is completely buried 

 below the level of the soil, the graft will throw out fibres and 

 thus come upon its own roots. Suckers may be prevented 

 from rising by the removal of the upper part of the roots, 

 which serve for stocks, and by destroying the latent buds. 



Grafting on the Neck of the Boot. 



The clematis is usually grafted under glass, on the neck or 

 on a separate root, with herbaceous scions not stripped of 

 their leaves, and cut from the parent plant just when the buds 

 begin to swell. The stocks after grafting are potted, and 

 placed under a cloche, with the air excluded. They remain 

 there until new roots appear around the ball, and the buds of 

 the scion begin to shoot. The hollyhock succeeds in the open 

 air grafted close to the ground. But this subject has the 

 disadvantage of sending out above the graft too many exhaust- 

 ing branches. This may be in part remedied by inserting the 

 scion in the shortened stem just above the neck, or by grafting 

 on a secondary root. After grafting they are planted out in 

 ordinary soil. The manner in which the hollyhock grows 

 intimates that it need not be grafted very early in the season ; 

 and as cold damp winters are injurious to the scion-branches, 

 these should be detached from the parent plant before winter, 

 and buried completely up to the moment of using them in 

 grafting. The walnut succeeds when grafted on a young plant 

 close to the ground. The neck is laid bare and cleft-grafted ; 

 then the soil is heaped up around it as far as the uppermost} 

 bud of the scion. On account of the softness of the tissues of 



