the ensuring of good fruit ; i. c. to have the 
same (or at least with little difference) pro- 
duced on the new tree, a$ that of the old one 
whence the graft was taken : it is sometimes 
performed on the 'branches of trees, and may 
be oil the roots, a piece being raised out of 
the ground for the purpose. 
If the seeds of fruit were left to grow up to 
trees without grafting, they would produce 
a different kind from that they came from ; 
by chance a better, but most commonly a 
worse. The varieties of fruit we have, were 
obviously obtained from seedling stocks, 
without grafting. 
Grafting is like planting upon a plant, for 
though there is a union of the parts, there is 
in fact little other communication than a root 
has with the ground. The scion, or bud, 
draws nourishment from the stock, but no 
other than is properly adapted to its own pe- 
culiar vessels, and which it alters so as to be- 
! come exclusively ' ts own - 
The art of grafting- is a very curious dis- 
covery, and though it re^. uires some inge- 
nuity to perform it, a few trials ;nay make it 
familiar, and it will prove an agreeable' _ source 
of amusement and satisfaction. By being 
able to graft, young trees may be always at 
hand for replacing old, or unsuccessful ones ; 
and the pleasure of obliging a friend from 
our stock in this way, is peculiarly gratify- 
ing. 
Skill in this ingenious art is clearly best 
obtained by seeing the work performed ; and 
at first trial, to have an adept at the elbow, 
would be a great advantage. There are few 
gardeners (even by profession), however, 
that practise this work, owing to the great 
number of nurserymen ready to supply trees. 
But though they raise fine trees, much dis- 
appointment has often happened in dealing 
with them (particularly in the sort) ; which 
might be avoided, by a man’s being able to 
raise good trees for himself. Directions pre- 
cisely descriptive of the business of grafting, 
are therefore here attempted, and if once 
1 understood, trials should be made without 
minding the discouragement of a few failures ; 
for practice will make perfect. 
Proper stocks being ready, and scions or 
I buds procured, there will be wanting a good 
! sharp narrow-bladed penknife, and a sharp 
smooth-edged pruning-knife, with some well- 
| wrought loam or clay, and some good new 
bass, or strong yarn. The clay should be 
made upas mortar, mixed with short hair, or 
fine chopt hay, with a little cow-dung, and 
prepared a day or two beforehand ; or if long- 
er the better, being beaten up afresh with a 
little water every day. 
The first thing to be done is, to cut off the 
head of the stock at the proper height, and in 
a fair part of the bark, making a smooth flat 
top ; if the stock is too strong for the knife, 
and a saw is used, it must be smoothed with 
the knife after. The most proper size for 
■ stocks, is from half an inch to an inch diarne- 
I ter : a little more or less, however, may do. 
When a stock is too little, the scion is apt to 
overgrow it, and when too big, the scion does 
! not so well, or so soon, cover the stock, as 
; might be wished; yet stocks of any size can 
bemused by one mode of grafting or other. 
Dwarf , trees are to be grafted within six 
inches of the ground, and standards as high 
j as the stock will well bear, considering whe- 
i ther thev are to be half or full standards ; the 
Vol. L 
GRAFTING. 
former at about three or four feet, the latter 
at five or six. But trees designed for stan- 
dards, may be grafted or inoculated at a , 
lower height, the graft being trained to the 
desired length, by keeping it to a single 
stem. 
The scions should be healthy and strong 
(not however of a soft, sappy, luxuriant 
growth), and taken from the outsides of fruit- 
ful trees, where the juices of the wood have 
been properly digested by sun and air; they 
should be taken (if it maybe) from trees just in 
their prime, or at full bearing, and not before. 
Let them be cut two or three weeks sooner 
than wanted, and if kept longer they may 
not hurt, for they had better be cut a little 
too soon than too late, at full length, without 
any side shoots. 
Let the scions of pears, plums, and cher- 
ries, be cut from the middle to the ,end of 
January, and at farthest not beyond the mid- 
dle of February ; the season must, however, 
somewhat govern. Keep them all over in 
dry mould, close under a south wall, or some 
shelter, covering them with straw in wet or 
severe weather. Some preserve them in a 
cool room, where they will do without mould, 
but ii would be better to set them up on end 
in a garde,’ 2 -t>ot, half their length with mould 
or sand, nearly dry. 
Scions cut early are prevented from get- 
ting too forward in bud : for if the buds be- 
gin to start, and look white, they seldom 
take. By having them as long as they may 
be kept before used, the sap of the stock gets 
in forwardness ; for it must first begin to stir, 
and so be ready to push itself quickly into 
the scion (now somewhat exhausted), to form 
an union with it. 
The middle of scions is fittest for the pur- 
pose ; but do not cut off the tops till they 
are brought out to graft, for they keep best 
in length. If scions are to be transported to 
any distance, let their ends be stuck two or 
three inches in clay, and so matted round in 
a bundle ; or, if wrapped round with a fine 
hay-rope, and smeared over with cow-dung, 
clay, or a strong earth, they will not soon 
wither. 
Some gardeners say, scions should be only 
of the last year’s growth, and others, that 
the wood of the year before is best ; but it 
is so far a matter of indifference that they 
will take much older, though, perhaps, not 
so certainly. As a medium, if a little of 
the former year’s wood is cut with a scion 
of the last, and this older wood used for the 
part grafted, it will be found to answer, in 
covering the stock sooner ; though it must 
be acknowledged, that all new' wood is the 
common practice of those who raise trees for 
sale ; which circumstance is ordinarily a pre- 
sumptive proof of right. If wood, however, 
of a year’s growth is not strong enough, then, 
at least, some of the old wood ought to be 
cut w T ith it ; and the bigger the stock is, the 
more this practice commends itself, as the 
barks will be somewhat more equal in thick- 
ness. 
Proceeding to graft, take off a little of the 
lower end of the scion first, and then cut it 
in length, so as to have three or four eyes to 
appear above the claying ; two eyes will be 
sufficient for a standard, but four are better 
for a dwarf that is to be trained. In cutting 
scions into lengths, let the top eye be just in 
S6’3 
front, or just behind, but rather the former. 
Use not (except upon necessity), the upper 
part of a scion, as the w'ood is too raw for 
the purpose, and will be shrivelled ; yet 
strong scions (properly inserted) seldom miss 
through drought ; indeed they will take 
sooner than if quite fresh cut and full of sap. 
The time for grafting is usually from mid- 
February to mid-March; but in a forward 
season sooner, and in a backward one some- 
times later. 
Cleft-grafting has been the most common 
method of propagation, and though it is not 
the neatest, yet it is a certain and easy way 
to young practitioners. The stocks for this 
mode of grafting should be strong, about 
three quarters of an inch diameter, or more ; 
but it may be used with very young stocks, 
having scions of like thickness. 
Cut off the head as before directed, so as 
to have (on the sunny side) a smooth part in 
the stock, where the scion is to be placed, 
and cutting a part of the stock oft" slopewise, 
opposite to this place, leave the top or the 
crown of the stock, about half an inch wide. 
Then cleave the stock with a strong knife, 
or thin sharp chisel, about two inches deep, 
as near the middle as possible, so as not to 
divide the pith, and if any roughness appears 
in the slit, smooth it off with a penknife; 
but something of the wedge kind must be put 
into the slit to keep it open to receive the 
scion, leaving proper room to put it in. Cut: 
the scion on each side to the form of a wedge 
at bottom, an inchormore long, making that 
side which is to be placed inwards in the 
stock, thinner by about one-third. Put the 
scion in, so that Its bark and that of the stock 
may be level ; and consequently that the two 
barks may unite and run into each other; 
for on this one principle depends the whole 
art of grafting. If the bark of the stock is 
thick, let the bark of the scion sink in a tritle, 
as the current of sap that unites them, runs 
betwixt the bark and wood. .1 he scion being 
placed, take the wedge out that kept the 
stock open ; vet if the stock ;s so strong as to 
pinch the scion too hard, ease it by a little bit 
of dry wood to be left in the cleft; so, how- 
ever, as not to loosen the graft, which must 
be held firmly: or if the stock is Very strong, 
the wedge of the scion may be nearly of equal 
thickness, inside and out, which eases the 
barked part. 
Tliejgraft must be nicely whipped round 
with Wet bass pulled tight, and the whole 
clayyd over to an inch above and half an 
inch below r , smoothing it off taper, with a 
trowel or knife dipped in water. And as this 
is done with a view to keep out wet, sun, 
and air, if tlie clay falls off or cracks, it must 
be immediately repaired, till the season 
comes to take off the bandage, which is 
about Midsummer, or rather sooner ; yet at 
this time some clay should be still kept on 
the top, to secure the cleft from wet, and so 
continued till the cleft is grown up. 
If it is desired to put in two scions, to form 
a tree for the wall, or espalier, there should 
be two clefts parallel to one another, one on 
each side the pith. Some put in two scions, 
merely in case one should miss ; but it is not 
advisable. It need hardly be observed, 
that in this case the crown must be left, 
whole. 
Wliip-grafting has the advantage of cleft- 
grafting in neatness, and not requiring the- 
