216 



THE ART OF 



in May or June, the bud which was inoculated under the bark 

 begins to break some weeks afterwards. This is the time 

 to pinch the leaf (F), in the axil of which the bud is situated, 

 nearly to the middle. The result will be that the scion 

 produced from the bud (I) will be famished with buds at its 

 base, and will become a fruiting branch with wood of replace- 

 ment at its base. The young leaves of the shoot may be 

 similarly pinched, if necessary. 



In the absence of scion-branches for this operation we have 

 recourse to side-grafting with a simple branch (see p. 68), 

 and to veneering with strips (see p. 86). These two methods 

 are of the greatest service in arboriculture and deserve to be 

 very generally adopted. 



Restoring a Tree by Grafting a New Species on it. — A tree 

 which is vigorous, but of an unsuitable or inferior kind, is 

 grafted on the stem and branches with the kind desired. 

 Whatever may be the nature of the old subject, the new kind 

 will very soon produce its own fruit undeteriorated by any of 

 the bad qualities of fruit formerly borne by the stock. In this 

 way it is easy to change a cider apple-tree into one which will 

 bear dessert fruit, a summer pear-tree into a winter pear-tree, 

 a wild plum-tree into an apricot-tree, a barren vine-stock into 

 a fruitful one ; and to gather in autumn medlars, quinces, 

 and even pears, from the hawthorn which is planted for the 

 sake of its May flowers. The white chestnut will thus be 

 covered with rosy flowers, the pyramidal poplar will become 

 an umbrella, and the stunted fir will yield masts for ships ! 

 It is easily seen that this system of substitution by grafting is 

 of very extensive application, although at present chiefly used 

 in connection with fruit-trees. 



It is asserted that the quality of a fruit-tree is improved 

 by grafting it repeatedly and successively on the same tree. It 

 would seem as if the swelling of every graft were a filter 



