GHAITDsG AND BUDDING-. 



201 



good sound scions ; there will then be little cause to fear the 

 degeneration of the type. Ornamental plum-trees are propa- 

 gated by shield-budding on young stocks, either close to the 

 ground or otherwise. (See Amygdalopsis, page 1G8). 



Rhododendron, 



Stocfc. — Ehododendron ponticum (from seed). Mode of 

 Grafting. — Veneering ; English saddle-grafting ; ordinary 

 cleft- grafting ; side cleft-grafting (in September and October) ; 

 by approach (from April to August) ; close to the ground, and 

 sometimes as standards. 



Remarks. — Cleft-grafting and inlaying necessitate the 

 previous amputation of the stock, and are not so good as the 

 other methods. However, if a leafy shoot is retained at the 

 top of the stock opposite the graft, good results may be 

 obtained. Saddle-grafting is described and illustrated in the 

 account of English Grafting (see p. 113). Teneer-grafting 

 is the method most frequently used. It is done in July and 

 August ; the stock is not headed down previously ; if it is too 

 long the top is pinched. After grafting, the plants are placed 

 under cloches with the air excluded for five or six weeks, until 

 the union of the graft is ascertained; they are then gradually 

 hardened oft in the usual manner. Side cleft -grafting is 

 equally good. Performed in August under a double-hghted 

 frame, the union of the graft is complete in about five weeks. 

 In all these methods the leaves of the scion are retained ; the 

 longest, however, may be diminished one-third in length. 

 The rooting tendency of the rhododendron allows of its 

 being grafted on stocks which have been taken up, then 

 placed under a cloche, and afterwards planted out in a bed, 

 without any necessity of potting it when removed from the 

 cloche. It is as certain to succeed as if the stock had been 

 potted at the time of grafting. 



