Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/126

* GRAFTING. 104 GRAFTON. posfd. it should be covered with waxed muslin, or with hard wax. When deeply planted, either in a furrow or with a dibble, the waxed cotton will be ample protection. Cleft (/rafting is particularly adapted to large trees, when the variety is to be changed. Branches too large to be worked by other methods may be cleft grafted. But, as a rule, the larger tle branch the less satisfactory will be the result. A branch one or one and a half inches in diameter is severed with a sharp saw. Tlie stub is then split with a thin chisel, or with the grafting implement shown in Fig. 4, and held OPEMXG SLIT IN eCION WITH GRAFTING-CHISEL. open with a wedge or the prong of the grafting tool xmtil the scion, shaped as showai in Fig. 5, is inserted^ and adjusted, as shown in Fig. C. The scion should consist of a portion of the Fig. 6. GHAFTi.VQ. Fig. 6. GEAFTING. previous season's growth of the variety to be propagated, and should be long enough to have two or three buds. In general, it is a good plan to cut the scion so that the basal or proxi- mal bud shall be at the base of the openin',' of the triangle formed in cutting the scion into the wedge shape necessary in this style of graft. In addition to the advantage of having the proximal bud located as above described, the wedge of the scion should be made thicker on the side to face outward when the scion is in position. The advantage of this is that pressure is brought upon the outer growing parts of both scion and stock, whereas, were the scion thicker on the inner side, the conditions would be re- versed, and the death of the scion would follow. The importance of having an intimate connection between the growing tissues of both scion and stock cannot be too strongly emphasized, for upon this alone the success of grafting depends. To make this contact of the growing portions doubly certain, the scion is often set at a slight angle with the stock into which it is inserted, in order to cause the growing portions of the two to cross. Inarching, or Grafting hy Approach, is the process of grafting two branches without de- taching either from the parent plant. Suitable wounds having been made in both stock and scion, the cut surfaces are brought in contact, fastened and covered with grafting wax or other material to exclude the aii After the tissues have united the stock above and the scion below the point of contact are cut awaj'. This style of grafting is used to correct defects in trees by uniting the arms of Y crotches with a brace of living Mood to prevent their splitting apart, twigs from each arm being twisted together and so fastened until they have united. Inarching is also used with herbaceous plants that do not readily unite by other methods. Potted speci- mens are usually employed in this latter case. The method is the only one found in nature, and is supposed to have suggested all other methods. It is of slight importance in comparison with whip or cleft grafting. Waxing, which is quite as important as a proper adjustment of the scions, consists in cov- ering all cut or exposed surfaces with grafting wax, grafting clay, or some non-corrosive sub- stance which will exclude air and moisture. The wax may be applied hot. with a brush, but the safest plan is to spread it with the hand while it is warm enough to be worked like taff}'. If spread carefully over all cut surfaces and pressed closely, it will form, when cold, a coating im- penetrable to air and moisture. In warm cli- mates a soft wax is not desirable for exposed work. It may be used in whip grafting, but in cleft grafting, where all wounded surfaces are ex- posed to the weather, a hard wax, made by melting together five pounds of resin, two and a half pounds of beeswax, and one-half pound of tallow or one-half pint of linseed oil is preferable. In addition to the two styles of grafting above described, there are several others in common use, most important among which are veneer, saddle, and bud grafting. Some of these opera- tions are used exclusively upon woody plants; others, such as cleft grafting and inarching, are adapted to herbaceous plants. All have a place in practical horticulture. Consult: Bailey, The Nurser}/ Book (New York. 1896) ; id.. Cy- clopedia of American Horticulture (New York, l!)00-02) : Fuller, Propagation of Plants (New York. 1894). See Budding. GRAF'TON. A city and river port of Clar- ence County, New South Wales, Australia, situated on both sides of the Clarence River, which is navigable for moderate sized vessels to the sea, 45 miles distant (Map: New South ^'ales. G 1 ) . It is the terminus of a branch railway from Brisbane. 150 miles to the north; is a thriving agricultural centre, and has coal, gold, silver, and copper-mining industries. Popu- lation, in 1901, 4174.