480 
PLIITy's ISTATUEAL HISTOEY. 
[Book XYIL 
the pith ought not to be laid bare ; still, however, it should be 
pared with a small knife, so that the point may assume the form 
of a fine wedge, not more than three fingers in length, a thing 
that may be very easily effected by first steeping it in water 
and then scraping it. The graft, however, must not be pointed 
while the wind is blowing, and care must be taken that the 
bark is not rubbed off from either graft or stock. The graft 
must be thrust into the stock up to the point where the bark 
begins ; care, too, must be taken not to wrench ofi* the bark 
during the process of insertion, nor must it be thrust back so 
as to form any folds or wrinkles. It is for this reason that a 
graft should not be used that is too full of sap, no, by Hercules ! 
no more than one that is dry and parched ; for by doing so, in 
the former case, from the excess of moisture, the bark becomes 
detached, and in the latter, from want of vitality, it yields 
no secretions, and consequently will not incorporate with the 
stock. 
It is a point most religiously^^ observed, to insert the graft 
during the moon's increase, and to be careful to push it down 
with both hands ; indeed, it is really the fact, that in this ope- 
ration, the two hands, acting at the same moment, are of neces- 
sity productive of a more modified and better regulated efi'ort. 
Grafts that have been inserted with a vigorous efibrt are later 
in bearing, but last all the longer ; when inserted more ten- 
derly, the contrary is the result. The incision in the stock 
should not be too open or too large ; nor ought it to be too 
small, for in such case it would either force out the graft or 
else kill it by compression. But the most necessary precaution 
of all is to see that the graft is fairly inserted, and that it 
occupies exactly the middle of the fissure in the stock. 
Some^^ persons are in the habit of making the place for the 
fissure in the stock with the knife, keeping the edges of the 
incision together with bands of osier bound tightly round 
the stock ; they then drive in the wedges, the bands keep- 
ing the stock from opening too wide. There are some trees 
1^ In reprehending this absurd notion, Fee bestows a passing censure 
on the superstitions of this nature, contained in the Enghsh Vox Stella- 
rum, one of our almanacks ; and in the French "Almanack des Eergers,'' 
Shepherds' Almanack." 
1^ This is borrowed by Palladius, in the operations of February, tit. 
17, and October, tit. 12. 
