GRAFTING BY APPROACH OR INARCHING. 



297 



669. The greffe etoiiffee, or stifled graft, is so named, not from any par- 

 ticular mode of performing the operation, but because the plants so grafted 

 are closely covered with a bell-glass, so as completely to exclude the sur- 

 rounding air, and placed in moist heat, while the union between the scion 

 and the stock is going on. It is only applicable to plants of small size, and 

 in pots ; but for these, whether hardy, as in the case of pines, firs, and oaks, 

 or tender, as in the case of orange-trees, camellias, rhododendrons, &c., it is 

 the most expeditious of all modes of grafting. The operation is very com- 

 monly performed in the cleft mode, the stock being in a growing state with 

 the leaves on, and being cut over close to a leaf which has a bud in its axil, 

 and so as to slope away from it. Great care is taken not to injure the leaf 

 and bud on the stock, as on these, in a great measure, depends the success of 

 the operation. The stock is split to a depth equal to two- thirds of its thick- 

 ness, and the scion prepared is inserted, made fast with a shred of mat, or 

 with worsted threads ; and the upper part of the stock not covered by the 

 scion is coated over with grafting- wax. The pot containing the plant is then 

 plunged in heat, and closely covered with a bell-glass, which must be taken 

 oflf and wiped every second day, and left off an hour or two, if at any time 

 the plants appear too moist. Side-grafting and inarching are also employed 

 by those who practise the greffe etouffee, more especially in autumn. After 

 the scion is inserted, and bound close to the stock, the pot containing the 

 stock is half buried in a horizontal position, on a bed of dry tan, or dry 

 moss ; and the grafted part covered with a bell-glass, stuffed round the 

 bottom with tan or moss, so as to prevent any change of air taking place 

 within the bell-glass. The graft is kept thus closely covered for from two 

 to four weeks, according to the season, when the scion will, in general, be 

 found perfectly imited to the stock. Air is now admitted by degrees ; and 

 after a week or two more, the glass is removed altogether, the pot set up- 

 right in a gentle heat, and the upper part of the stock neatly cut off close 

 above the scion. 



§ VIII. — Grafting by approach or inarching. 



670. Gi^afting by approach differs from grafting by detached scions, in the 

 scion or shoot not being separated from the plant to which it belongs, and 

 by which it is nourished, till a union takes place. For this purpose, it is 

 necessary that the two plants which are to form the scion and the stock be 

 planted, or, if in pots, placed adjoining each other, so that a branch of the one 

 may be easily l)rought into close contact with the stem, or with a branch of 

 the other. A disk of bark and alburnum is then removed from each 

 at the intended point of union, and the parts being properly fitted to 

 each other, so as the inner barks of the respective subjects may coincide, 

 as in the case of grafting by detached scions, they are bandaged and covered 

 with clay or grafting wax. This being done, in a short time, in conse- 

 quence of the developement of cambium, the albarnum of the scion and that 

 of the stock become united, and the scion may be cut off below the point 

 where it is united with the stock, leaving the former to be nourished only 

 by the latter. This kind of grafting is the only sort that takes place in 

 nature, from the crossing of the branches of trees (more especially where 

 they are crowded together in hedges), when, by the friction between them, 

 the alburnum is laid bare, and if a season of repose takes place when the sap 

 is rising, the parts adhere and grow together. This is not uncommon in 



