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THE ART OP 



sometimes fancifully intergrafted with each other in order to 

 obtain particular forms. The natural way to propagate these 

 is by seed, cuttings, or layers. Every year new varieties or 

 sub-varieties of woody plants make their appearance. These 

 may be grafted by the methods indicated for analogous 

 species. 



The Apricot. 



Stock. — St. Julienplum; black damson (from seed); Myro- 

 balan plum (from cuttings). In the south of France they use 

 as stocks the apricot on its own roots and the almond-tree 

 (from seed). In England the Brussels stock is used for this 

 purpose, and in Holland the kind called gross-^flaum. Mode of 

 Grafting. — Shield-budding (in July and August) ; simple 

 English method (in March and April) ; either close to the 

 ground or as standards. 



"Remarks. — Scions of medium size, and taken from branches 

 well exposed to the air, are to be preferred. The buds at tho 

 base which are badly developed should be rejected, and those 

 at the top are difficult to be grafted as shield-buds. When 

 about to shield-bud the Myrobalan plum, the branches of the 

 stock should be tied up together, and, when the graft is made, 

 the ends of these branches should be cut off. The bandage 

 should be removed in autumn, otherwise not before the frosts 

 are past. Aphides and snails should be destroyed. Tie up the 

 shoots to props carefully from time to time. Cut oflc the heel 

 before winter. As the simple English graft (p. Ill) has 

 neither notch nor tongue, the bandage and prop must be 

 retained for a considerable time. Cleft -grafting or inlaying 

 previously shield-budded branches of the plum on the apricot 

 (p. 147) is useful in some cases when the stock is too gross to 

 be grafted in the English way. When it is desired to obtain 

 a tall standard apricot on a low plum stocky the latter should 



