The life of grafting is to propagate any curious 
forts of fruits, fo as to be certain of the kinds, which 
cannot be done by any other method ; for as all the 
good fruits have been accidentally obtained from feeds, 
fo the feeds of thefe, when fown, will many of them 
degenerate, and produce inch fruit as are not worth 
cultivating j but when flioots are taken from fuch 
trees as produce good fruit, thefe will never alter 
from their kind, whatever be the dock, or tree, on 
which they are grafted ; for though the grafts receive 
their nouriihment from the docks, yet their varieties 
are never altered by them, but continue to produce 
the fame kind of fruit as the tree from which they 
were taken-, the only alteration is, that when the 
docks on which they are grafted do not grow fo 
fad, and afford a fufficient fupply of nouriihment 
to the grafts, they will not make near fo great 
progrefs as they otherwife would do, nor will the 
fruit they produce be fo fair, and fometimes not fo 
well flavoured. 
Thefe Ihoots are termed cions, or graffs ; in the 
choice or thefe the following directions fliould be care- 
fully obferved. id. That they are flioots of the for- 
mer year, for when they are older, they never fuc- 
ceed well. 2dly, Always to take them from healthy 
fruitful trees, for if the trees are fickly from whence 
they are taken, the grafts very often partake fo much 
of the didemper as rarely to get the better of it, at lead 
for fome years -, and when they are taken from young 
luxuriant trees, whofe veffels are generally large, they 
will continue to produce luxuriant dioots, and are fel- 
dom fo fruitful as thofe which are taken from fruitful 
trees, whofe fhoots are more compaCt, and thejoints 
clofer together ; at lead it will be a great number of 
years before the luxuriant grafts begin to produce 
fruit, if they are managed with the greated fkill. 
3dly, You diould prefer thofe grafts which are taken 
from the lateral, or horizontal branches, to thofe from 
the drong perpendicular flioots, for the reafons before 
given. 
Thefe grafts, or cions, fliould be cut off from the 
trees before their buds begin to fwell, which is gene- 
rally three weeks or a month before the feafon for 
grafting therefore, when they are cut off, they fliould 
be laid in the ground with the cut downwards, bury- 
ing them half their length, and covering their tops 
with dry litter, to prevent their drying ; if a frnail 
joint of the former year’s wood is cut off with the 
cion, it will preferve it the better, and when they are 
grafted, this may be cut off 5 for at the fame time the 
cions mud be cut to a proper length before they are 
inferted in the docks ; but, till then, the fhoots 
fliould remain their full length, as they were taken 
from the tree, which will preferve them better from 
fhrinking if thefe cions are to be carried to a con- 
fiderable didance, it will be proper to put their ends 
into a lump of clay, and to wrap them up in mofs, 
which will preferve them frefii for a month, or longer ; 
but thefe fliould be cut off earlier from the trees than 
thofe which are to be grafted near the place where 
the trees are growing. 
Having given directions for the cions and grafts, 
we next come to that of the dock, which is a term 
applied to the trees intended for grafting thefe are 
either fuch old trees as are already growing in the 
places where they are to remain, whofe fruit is intended 
to be changed, or young trees, which have been 
raifed in a nurfery for a fupply to the garden ; in the 
former cafe there i$ no other choice, but that of the 
branches, which fliould be fuch as are young, healthy, 
well fituated, and have a frnooth bark if thefe trees 
are growing againd walls, or efpaliers, it will be 
proper to graft fix, eight, or ten branches, ac- 
cording to the fize of the trees, by which they will 
be much fooner furnifhed with branches again, than 
when a lefs number of cions are put in ; but in 
ftandard-trces, four, or at mod fix cions will be dif- 
fident. 
in the choice of young docks for grafting, you 
fliould always prefer fuch as have been raifed from the 
5 
feed, and that have been once or twice tranfplanted. 
Next to thefe, are thofe docks which have been raifed 
from cuttings, or layers, but thofe which are fuckers 
from the roots of other trees diould always be re- 
jected, for thefe are never fo well rooted as the others, 
and condantly put out a great number of fuckers 
from their roots, whereby the borders and walks 
of the garden will be always pedered with them dur- 
ing the dimmer feafon, which is not only unfightly, 
but they alfo take off part of the nouriihment from 
the trees. 
If thefe docks have been allowed a proper didance 
in the nurfery where they have grown, the wood will 
be better ripened, and more compadt than thofe which 
have grown clofe and have been there drawn up to 
a greater height ; the wood of thefe wiil be foft, and 
their veffels large, fo that the cions grafted into them 
wiil fnoot very drong, but they will be lefs difpofed to 
produce fruit than the other and when trees acquire 
an ill habit at fird, it will be very difficult to reclaim 
them afterward. 
Having directed the choice of cions and docks, we 
come next to the operation, in order to which you 
mud be provided with the following tools. 
1. A neat fmall hand-faw to cut off the heads of large 
docks. 
2. A good drong knife with a thick back, to make 
clefts in the docks. 
3. A fharp penknife to cut the grafts. 
4. A grafting chiffel and a fmall mallet. 
5. Bafs drings, or woollen yam, to tie the grafts 
with, and fuch other indruments and materials as you 
fhould find neceffary, according to the manner of 
grafting you are to perform. 
6. A quantity of clay, which fliould be prepared a 
month before it is ufed, and kept turned and mixed, 
like mortar every other day, which is to be made af- 
ter the following manner : 
Get a quantity of drong fat loam (in proportion 
to the quantity of trees intended to be grafted, then 
take fome new done-horfe dung, and break it in 
amongd the loam, and if you cut a little draw, or 
hay, very fmall, and mix amongd it, the loam will 
hold together the better ; and if there be a quantity 
of fait added, it will prevent the clay from dividing 
in dry weather ; thefe mud be weil dirred together, 
putting water to them after the manner of making 
mortar ; it fhould be hollowed like a difh, and filled 
with water, and kept every other day dirred but it 
ought to be remembered, that it diould not be ex- 
pofed to the frod, or drying winds, and the oftener it 
is dirred and wrought the better. 
Of late years fome perl'ons have made ufe of another 
compofition for grafting, which they have found to 
anfwer the intention of keeping out the air, better 
than the clay before deferibed. This is compofed of 
turpentine, bees-wax, and rofin, melted together, 
which, when of a proper confidence, may be put on 
the dock round the graft, in the fame manner as the 
clay is ufually applied ; and though it be not above a 
quarter of an inch thick, yet it will keep out the air 
more effectually than the clay j and as cold will harden 
this, there is no danger of its being hurt by frod, 
which is very apt to caufe the clay to cleave, and fome- 
times fall off ; and when the heatef dimmer comes on, 
this mixture will melt, and fall off without any trou- 
ble. In udng of this, there fliould be a tin, or cop- 
per-pot, with conveniency under it to keep a very 
gentle fire v/ith fmall-coal, otherwife the cold will 
foon condenfe the mixture but you mud be careful 
not to apply it too hot, led you injure the graft. A 
perfon who is a little accudomed to this compofition, 
will apply it very fad, and it is much eafier for him 
than clay, efpecially if the feafon fliould prove cold. 
There are feveral ways of grafting, the principal of 
which are four : 
1. Grafting in the rind, called alfo fhoulder-grafe- 
O m _ w ^ ^ 
ing, which is only proper for large trees ; this is 
called crown-grafting, becaufe the grafts are fet in 
form of a circle, or crown, and is generally per- 
formed 
