158 



THE AET OF 



If there are any branches on the heel, they shonld be cnt off, 

 except a conple of shoots or buds, -which should be left for the 

 purpose of drawing the sap to the graft. It is quite wrong to 

 strip it of its bark, as is done by some. If the buds of the 

 scion appear doubtful, making another branch-graft above the 

 first one will be a wise precaution. 



Disbudding the Graft. 

 "When vegetation has commenced, this must be done 

 closely. Later on, we must act more carefully. The 

 buds or shoots of the stock between the graft and the 

 ground must be removed with the pruning-knife or 

 pinched off. A few might be retained on feeble stems, or only 

 in places which appear weak, and these are to be pinched so 

 that they may draw the sap without absorbing it. Those 

 shoots that make their appearance on the stump about the 

 graft must be rigorously cut away ; above the graft, one or 

 two are to be retained to draw the sap, and these are also to 

 be pinched. They are to be retained for a longer time in the 

 case of those kinds of plants in which the stump dries up 

 quickly, such as the j^Iaple and the Cytisus. In such cases it 

 will be time enough to remove the stump when the scion is 

 able to do without its help. The operation is to be repeated 

 as often as any shoots not belonging to the graft make their 

 appearance. In the case of thin poor subjects, we should act 

 more moderately in the suppression of the shoots, and abstain 

 from it altogether when the scion- shoot persists in remaining 

 inactive ; but in certain kinds (the rose for instance), if the 

 heel is cut off level with a graft which is unusually dormant, 

 there would be a chance of forcing the slow growth, or of 

 causing fresh shoots to spring from the stock, which, 

 might be budded afterwards. This short cutting of the 

 stump is a decisive operation. Those stocks which are crown- 



