GRAFTING A.lsB BrDDrN'G. 



17 



that the tie be tight enough to keep the graft immovable, 

 but not tight enough to cause any danger of its cutting 

 or bruising the bark. 



For tying the graft, wide strands of bass, or bast, used 

 to be best liked, but now soft cotton is found to answer 

 better, and worsted is better still. 



"When the graft is aflSxed and tied on, the tie is 

 surrounded with clay worked into a tenacious dough, to 

 exclude the air and keep the part intended to adhere 

 moist. 



To make grafting clay, beat some horse droppings to 

 pieces, and pass them through a half-inch riddle, mix 

 this well with equal parts of clayey loam and fresh cow 

 manure, add a little road drift, and knead all together 

 into a pliant dough of uniform consistence. Shape this 

 in a spindle-shaped lump over the spot where the graft 

 is fixed on, and smooth the outside with the hand 

 dipped in fine ashes, which enables the grafter to close 

 the surface perfectly. Look over the grafts a few days 

 after they are put in, and if the clay show cracks any- 

 where, they should be closed, and the surface made 

 smooth again. 



Clayey loam or brick earth, well beaten with a fourth 

 part of fresh, sheer cow dung, and a little hay cut into 

 pieces an inch long to bind it, makes a good grafting 

 clay, and many gardeners use moist clay alone, or a 

 little cow manure plastered over the graft, and covered 

 with moss or coarse brown paper, tied on. 



Grafting wax, for the same purpose as the grafting 

 clay, is made by melting in a pipkin over the fire half an 

 ounce of wax and half an ounce of fat ; half an ounce of 

 red sealing-wax is broken in pieces and put into this, and 

 the whole is kept stirred until all are thoroughly miclted 

 and mixed together ; a very little honey is stirred in at 

 last, and the mixture is poured into moulds, and still 

 stirred gently until it begins to set. 



Another grafting wax is made by melting together 

 bees' wax, pitch, tallow, and a little bit of resin. 



To use the grafting wax, make it warm enough to be 

 ^ laid on the graft with a brush, paint it on until it is a 



c 



