152 



THE ART 0? 



are likely to suffer from the cold. Those stocks that have 

 suffered from tightening of the bandages should have some of 

 their largest top branches shortened with the secateur or 

 the pruning-knife. The heading-down of stocks budded with 

 a pushing bud should be commenced a week after budding, and 

 the branches should be cut away successively, and also the 

 stem to about 4 inches above the graft as soon as the union of 

 the parts is ascertained. In the case of subjects budded with 

 a dormant bud, the stock is to be amputated as soon as the 

 frosts are over, and before vegetation has commenced, by a 

 single cutting about 4 inches above the graft. This stump of 

 4 inches serves for tying up the young graft, and is to be 

 cut away at the end of the summer following (at the place 

 indicated by the line B), first operating on those subjects 

 which are slow to heal, and those stocks which differ most in 

 kind from their grafts. In this work the saw, the ordinary 

 pruning-knife, and the stump cutter are used. Stakes or 

 props should be continued for a few years. 



Flute-Grafting. — General Directions. 

 The name of flute or whistle -grafting has been given 

 to this method in consequence of the resemblance which 

 exists between the manner in which the bud is detached 

 and the means employed in making rustic flutes with 

 tubes of bark taken from a branch in full sap. At present this 

 mode is not much used in nurseries. Although it has been 

 superseded by more expeditious methods, some persons still 

 use it in propagating the varieties of the walnut, the chestnut, 

 the mulberry, the fig, and the cherry. The season for flute- 

 grafting is in spring, when the sap has begun to flow. It can 

 also be carried on towards the end of summer, before the new 

 generative layers are dried up by the cessation of vegetation. 

 There are two principal methods of flute-grafting, in both of 



