18 ( 54 ] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
81 
Plain Directions for Grafting. 
The process of whip-grafting small stocks 
was illustrated in the January Agriculturist , 
but the farmer being, as a general thing, more 
interested in grafting large trees, we give an 
account of the method. All over the country 
there are orchards of “natural fruit,” or of 
trees grafted with undesirable sorts, which the 
owners would gladly change to better kinds if 
they could only afford the expense. This is 
very little, if the owner does it himself, as 
any one can who can use a jack-knife. Graft¬ 
ing is- simply taking a twig from one tree, 
and planting it in the limb of another, the con¬ 
ditions of success being that the inner bark of 
the two shall be in perfect contact, and that 
the point where they join shall be so covered that 
neither the cion nor stock shall become dry. 
Materials. —The cions should be cut before the 
buds begin to swell, and be preserved in damp 
earth in a cool place. They may be buried iii 
the cellar or out of doors. If taken late in win¬ 
ter or early in spring, the upper portion of the 
cuttings should be rejected, as this is frequently 
winter-killed, or has its vitality impaired by the 
severe cold. Exercise care in the selection of 
Fig. 1.—GRAFTING KNIFE. 
varieties, and keep the cions properly labelled 
after they are cut. Prepare a supply of waxed 
cloth according to the directions given in Jan¬ 
uary, upon page 20. Some use the grafting wax 
without the aid of cloth. To prepare this, the 
composition directed for the cloth is thoroughly 
melted, poured into water, and when sufficiently 
cool, is taken out and worked in the 
hands, in the same manner as candy, un¬ 
til it is of a uniform character through¬ 
out. The hands may be rubbed with tal¬ 
low to prevent the wax from sticking to 
them. Grafting clay, made by working 
together clay or strong loam and cow 
dung, is sometimes used with success. 
Tools. —A fine saw with the teeth set 
rather wide will be needed for taking 
off the limbs. For splitting the limbs in 
cleft-grafting, a chisel, stout knife, or a 
grafting knife may be used. Fig. 1, 
shows the common form of grafting knife, 
consisting of a steel blade fastened to 
an iron back, which is turned up at the 
end to furnish a wedge with which to 
open the cleft. Where this is not used, 
a wedge of hard wood will be needed. 
Fi^ 3 A wooden mallet will be required and 
’ also a sharp knife to prepare the cions. 
In crown-grafting an iron bodkin, (fig. 2,) is 
used to lift the bark. This is in the shape of 
a half rounded wedge, and may be made of a 
half round file, heating and slowly cooling to 
soften it, and then grinding it smooth. A sub¬ 
stitute may be readily made from hard wood. 
Practical Operations.—The renewal of a tree 
should not be done all at once, but extend 
through three, or at least two years, begin¬ 
ning with the upper part. In renewing th-e 
head, regard should be had to the future form 
of the tree, recollecting that a small cion will 
ultimately become a limb, and that an over¬ 
crowded as well as a too thin head, is to be 
avoided. The limbs are usually 
sawn so as to leave only about six 
inches in length for the reception 
of the grafts. In sawing, care should 
be taken that the weight of the 
branch does not break it off before 
it is completely severed, as this 
would strip away the bark from the 
lower side and leave an ugly wound. 
The limb should be held firmly un¬ 
til it is completely cut through, 
and it is safest to cut a ring through 
the bark with the knife at the place 
where the saw-cut is to be made. 
The rough surface left by the saw 
is to be smoothed by paring with 
the knife or drawing-knife, and a 
split to be made for the reception 
of the grafts. Place the chisel, knife, 
or grafting tool across the end of 
the but, and with a few moderate 
blows of the mallet split it to the 
Fig. 3.— cion. ex tent of an inch or two. A cion 
is prepared by cutting its lower part to the 
shape of a long wedge 
(fig. 3,) taking care to 
have a bud (A) at the 
base of the wedge. It 
is customary to make 
the edge of the wedge 
opposite to this bud 
slightly thinner than 
the other. The cleft be¬ 
ing sprung open by 
means of a wooden 
wedge, or the turned up 
portion of the grafting 
tool, the cion is inserted 
with the bud A outward, 
taking care that its in¬ 
ner bark and that of the 
stock come in contact. 
In stocks an inch or 
more in diameter, two 
cions are usually placed, 
one of which is ulti¬ 
mately cut away. When Fig. 4—cion inserted. 
the opening wedge is withdrawn, the cions are 
held quite firmly. The 
whole wounded portion 
must then be covered 
with waxed cloth. Tear 
off a strip long enough 
to go two or three times 
around the limb, and 
wide enough to cover 
the split and to double 
over and cover the end 
of the but. The strip is 
to be wrapped closely 
around and fitted nicely 
about the cions so as to 
form an air and water¬ 
tight covering over all 
the wounded portions 
(fig. 5). It takes longer 
to describe than it does 
to perform the opera¬ 
tion, and a little prac¬ 
tice on a few limbs tak¬ 
en off for the purpose, 
will give the needed 
facility in working. 
Those who make a business of grafting, usual¬ 
ly prepare the cions first, and hold them in the 
Fig. 5.— -BANDAGE. 
Fig. 6,-small 
STOCK. 
mouth while splitting the stock. The waxed 
or grafting cloth is the easiest of application, 
but some prefer to use the wax. 
This is prepared as directed 
above, in convenient sized rolls, 
and in use, a small portion is pul¬ 
led off and smeared over the 
cut portions by means of the 
ball of the thumb. A piece o 
tallow should be used to grease 
the hands, if either the wax or 
cloth are disposed to stick to 
them. When small 
stocks are cleft- 
grafted, only one 
cion is used and 
about half the stock 
is cut away in a 
sloping manner as 
shown in fig. 6. A cut of this 
kind heals over more readily than 
one made straight across. 
Crown Crafting. —In cleft-grafting 
a split is left which never fills up; 
to obviate this, many practice what 
is called crown-grafting. The stock 
is prepared as already directed but 
not split. The cion instead of being 
cut as in cleft-grafting is shaved 
down on one side only to form a 
half round wedge with a shoulder, 
like fig. 7, with a bud at A as be¬ 
fore. To insert the cion, the bodkin 
(fig. 2), is forced between the bark 
and wood of the stock so as to lift ^T^ I0S 
the bark (no matter if it cracks) grafting. 
and on being withdrawn the cion is pressed in¬ 
to the opening thus made, its cut portion being 
toward the center of the 
stock (fig. 8.) Two or 
three cions may be in¬ 
troduced, according to 
the size of the stock, 
then cover the wounded 
portions with cloth or 
wax as before. Crown 
grafting is equally suc¬ 
cessful with the other, 
and is practised exclu¬ 
sively by some. Others 
object to it for the rea¬ 
son that the grafts are 
more likely to blow out. 
Grafting should be done 
just as the trees are be¬ 
ginning to start. It is 
not well to do it tdo 
early, as the cions are 
exposed for a long time 
to the cold winds, and 
are apt to die. The „ 
grafts should be looked ^ 8 ‘ CR0WN GRA ™- 
to after they are set, to see that the binding 
or the wax covers do not become displaced. 
Corn Husk Mattresses as usually made, 
require the husks to be slit up fine with a hatch- 
el, which is a rather slow operation. A sub¬ 
scriber writes to the American Agriculturist that 
a much quicker method is to run the material 
through a threshing machine, which will knock 
off all the hard parts. These will be separated 
in passing over the “ shaker,” leaving the torn 
husks to fall off clean. They will need to be 
run through twice or even thrice, and will come 
out nice and soft, not equal to hair of .course, 
yet a very excellent material for beds. 
