Grafting is the insertion of a small branch (or cion), usually bearing more than one bud. If grafting is employed on small stocks, it is customary to employ the whip-graft (Fig. 175). Both stock and cion are cut across diagonally, and a split made in each, so that one fits into the other. The graft is tied securely with a string, and then, if it is above ground, it is also waxed carefully.
In larger limbs or stocks, the common method is to employ the cleft-graft (Fig. 176). This consists in cutting off the stock, splitting it, and inserting a wedge-shaped cion in one or both sides of the split, taking care that the cambium layer of the cion matches that of the stock. The exposed surfaces are then securely covered with wax.
Grafting is usually performed early in the spring, just before the buds swell. The cions should have been cut before this time, when they were perfectly dormant. Cions may be stored in sand in the cellar or in the ice-house, or they may be buried in the field. The object is to keep them fresh and dormant until they are wanted.
If it is desired to change the top of an old plum, apple, or pear tree to some other variety, it is usually accomplished by means of the cleft-graft. If the tree is very young, budding or whip-grafting may be employed. On an old top the cions should begin to bear when three to four years old. All the main limbs should be grafted. It is important to keep down the suckers or watersprouts from around the grafts, and part of the remaining top should be cut away each year until the top is entirely changed over (which will result in two to four years).
A good wax for covering the exposed parts is described in the footnote on page 145.
Keeping records of the plantation.
If one has a large and valuable collection of fruit or ornamental plants, it is desirable that he have some permanent record of them. The most satisfactory method is to label the plants, and then to make a chart or map on which the various plants are indicated in their proper positions. The labels are always liable to be lost and to become illegible, and they are often misplaced by careless workmen or mischievous boys.
For vegetables, annuals, and other temporary plants, the best labels are simple stakes, like that shown in Fig. 177. Garden stakes a foot long, an inch wide, and three-eighths inch thick may be bought of label manufacturers for three to five dollars a thousand. These take a soft pencil very readily, and if the labels are taken up in the fall and stored in a dry place, they will last two or three years.