332 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



J 



SADDLE-GRAFTING. 



Fig. 103. 



the scion (b) slit up the middle so as to adapt it 

 that it shall be seated across or ride upon the 

 former (c). This mode was in- 

 Fig. 102. vented by Mr Knight, and used 

 by him chiefly upon cherry 

 trees ; and he states that even 

 where the wood has been so suc- 

 culent and imperfectly ripened 

 as to preclude every hope of 

 success by any other mode, he 

 found this most successful. 

 The advantage of this mode con- 

 sists in offering the largest sur- 

 face for the junction of the scion 

 and stock, but, as in whip-graft- 

 ing, the bark must, at least on 

 one side, be neatly fitted to the 

 bark on the other. Fig. 102 

 will show the principle. 



A variety of saddle-grafting 

 is much used in the Hereford- 

 shire orchards, of which fig. 103 

 is a representation. In this case 

 the scion must be much smaller 

 than the stock, and is split up 

 between 2 and 3 inches from 

 its lower end, so as to have one 

 'side stronger than the other. 

 This strongest side is introduced 

 between the bark and wood, 

 while the thinner division is fit- 

 ted to the opposite side of the 

 stock. Mr Knight, who de- 

 scribed this mode in the " Hor- 

 ticultural Society's Transac- 

 tions," says that the apple and 

 pear grafted in this manner 

 seldom fail, and that it may 

 be practised with success either 

 in spring upon last year's scions, 

 or in July with the young wood 

 of the current year. He attri- 

 butes one advantage to saddle- 

 grafting which must appear very 

 clear — namely, that the sap is 

 not driven from its natural 

 course, but ascends from the 

 stock to the scion freely, which 

 is not the case when the scion 

 is put on one side of the stock 

 only, as in almost all other 

 methods. 



Cleft-grafting appears to have 

 saddle-grafting, been one of, if not the most pri- 

 mitive of all modes, which may 

 be naturally inferred from its great simplicity. 

 Although easily performed, it has a clumsy ap- 

 pearance, but is yet very useful in the case of 

 old trees requiring to be cut down from old age, 

 disease, or other causes. Fig. 104 will show the 

 principle, a, the stock, of almost any diameter. 

 Two grafts (b c) are here shown, but there may 

 be several, according to the size of the stock. 

 The operation is thus performed : The head of 

 the stock is first sawn over, and afterwards 

 smoothed with a knife. A cleft is then made 

 in the stock with a hammer and splitting knife, 

 or as often with a carpenter's chisel. The scion 

 is prepared as shown in our figure, and pushed 



Fig. 104. 



m 



HEREFORDSHIRE 



into the cleft as the knife or chisel is with- 

 drawn, taking care that the inner bark of the 

 scion fits to that of the inner 

 bark of the stock. When the 

 number of grafts desired is in- 

 serted the whole is bound round 

 with matting, and clayed in the 

 usual manner. 



_ " Apple stocks in many Ame- 

 rican nurseries," according to 

 Downing, " are grafted in great 

 quantities in this mode, the 

 stocks being previously taken 

 out of the ground, headed down 

 very near the root, cleft-grafted 

 with a single scion, sloping off 

 with an oblique cut the side of 

 the stock opposite that where the 

 graft is placed, and then planted 

 at once into rows, so as to allow 

 cleft-grafting, onlya couple of buds of the scion 

 to appear above ground. It is not 

 usual with many either to tie or clay the grafts in 

 this case, as the wound is placed below the sur- 

 face; but when this plan is adopted, the grafts 

 must be set and the trees planted at once, drawing 

 the well-pulverised soil with great care around 

 the graft. Another way of grafting apple stocks 

 common in some western nurseries consists in 

 tongue-grafting on seedling stocks of very small 

 size, cut back almost to the root. This is perform- 

 ed in winter by the fireside ! — the grafts carefully 

 tied, and the roots placed in the cellar in sand 

 till spring, when they are planted, the top of 

 the graft just above the ground."— Fruits and 

 Fruit Trees of America. Cleft-grafting with 

 one scion is in general not a good mode, be- 

 cause if the split has been made right through 

 the stock, it is in danger of being injured by the 

 weather before it is covered by wood by the 

 scion. If the cleft is made only on one side of 

 the stock, the evil is mitigated ; another objection 

 arises when only one scion is used — the tree 

 becomes, as a matter of course, attached, as it 

 were, to one side of the root only. 



Cleft-grafting the vine. — This is sometimes done, 

 and in the following manner : A spur is cleft, 

 commencing the incision exactly above the 

 second eye ; the scion, when chosen, is cut in a 

 wedge-shape form at its base, commencing the 

 slope of the wedge immediately below a bud, so 

 that when the scion is inserted into the cleft, 

 the bud of the latter and that of the stock may 

 be placed opposite each other, which is consi- 

 dered the most favourable position for success. 

 The process of tying and claying goes on in the 

 usual manner, with this exception, that a small 

 hole is left in the clay opposite to the bud of 

 the scion, to allow that bud to develop itself 

 freely. When the scion has grown fourteen or 

 fifteen days, it is then headed back to one bud, 

 which is left to draw up the sap until the union 

 has fairly taken place between the stock and 

 scion. The proper season for grafting the vine 

 in this way is when the shoots have made four 

 or five leaves ; if done sooner, there is a danger 

 of the sap flowing so fast as to prevent a union 

 taking place by what is called bleeding. 



This process is often adopted in grafting sue- 



