Instructions in gardening for ladies

by Mrs. Loudon

The common mode of Whip or Tongue Grafting.

Peg Grafting is an old method seldom practised now; according to it, the bark at the extremity of the scion is cut through, and the central wood shaped like a peg; a hole is then bored in the stock to receive the scion, and when the one is inserted in the other, the bark of the two is brought together, so as to make but a very slight scar.

Cleft Grafting is where the scion is shaped at the extremity like a wedge, and a cleft is made in the stock to receive it. When this kind of grafting is practised with trees and shrubs, the head of the stock is cut off; but a modification of it is practised with succulent plants, in which the end of the graft having been cut into the shape of a wedge, is inserted into a cleft made in the side of the stock to receive it, and the line of junction is covered with grafting wax. The tubers of strong common dahlias may be grafted in the cleft manner with choice sorts, as may the tubers of the herbaceous pæonies with scions of the tree-pæony. This last is very useful, as cuttings of the Pæonia Moutan remain weak for several years, while roots grafted in July or August will flower the following spring.

Crown Grafting resembles the last kind in requiring the head of the stock to be cut off, but the scion is shaped at the extremity like a wedge flattened on one side, and it is pushed in between the bark and wood of the stock, with its flat side next the wood, till it is stopped by a shoulder with which it is provided to prevent it going in too far. In Saddle Grafting the head of the stock is cut off, and the extremity of the trunk is shaped like a long wedge; a long slit is then made in the scion, and the divided parts are made to stand astride on the stock. The bark is then pared off at the extremity, so that the two parts may fit quite close; and a firm ligature is applied.

Herbaceous Grafting is very badly named, as it gives the idea of its being a kind of grafting applied to herbaceous plants; whereas, in fact, it only means grafting with the brittle wood of the current year, in opposition to common grafting, which is always performed with firm wood, frequently of several years’ growth. Herbaceous grafting is now generally used for trees of the pine and fir tribe, which, only a few years ago, it was thought impossible to graft at all. The proper time for this kind of grafting is when the young pine-shoots have made about three parts of their growth, and are still so herbaceous as to break readily between the fingers, like a shoot of asparagus. The shoot of the stock is then broken off about two inches below the point, and all the leaves stripped off for nearly two inches more, except two sheaths of leaves, which are left, one on each side, close to the top. The shoot is then split with a very thin knife between the sheaths of leaves left on, and the scion, having had its lower extremity prepared by stripping off the leaves, and cutting it into the shape of a wedge, is inserted as in cleft grafting, and the parts are bound together with list, or with a strip of thin woollen cloth. A cone of paper is then put over the whole to protect it from the sun and rain, and the graft is very seldom found to fail. Sometimes this kind of grafting is applied to annual plants. The period chosen should be when the plant is in its greatest vigour, and is just going into flower. The flower stem is then cut off close to a leaf, and a slit is made in the stem downwards. The scion is then taken off near the root of the plant, and the end being cut into a wedge-shape, is inserted in the slit. The wound is then bound up with strips of cloth spread with grafting wax, and the leaf taken great care of. When the graft begins to grow, this leaf and all the shoots below it are removed. In this manner artichokes have been grafted on cardoons, and cauliflowers on cabbages with great success. Tomatoes have also been grafted on potatoes in this manner, the potatoes perfecting their tubers, and the tomatoes their fruit, at the same time; and it is said that the ripening of the latter was much accelerated. This mode of grafting was invented by the Baron Tschoudy, a gentleman residing at Metz, and the principal point in it which requires attention, is the preserving a leaf, or two leaves, at the extremity of the stock, to serve as nurses to the graft.

Stock and Scion prepared for Inarching.

Inarching, or Grafting by Approach.—Though I have left this till last, it is in fact the most simple of all ways of grafting, and it is certainly the only one practised by nature. In a natural forest, two branches rub against each other in windy weather, till the bark of both becomes wounded; a calm ensues, and, while it lasts, the wounded branches lying across each other adhere and grow together. Of this, which is called inosculation, examples in the beech, the hornbeam, and the oak, are given in Mr. Loudon’s Arb. Brit.; and it is probable that mankind derived the first idea of grafting from observing instances of this kind. Inarching, as practised in nurseries, closely resembles layering. A branch is bent and partly cut through, and the heel thus formed is slipped into a slit made downwards in the stock to receive it. The parts are then made to meet as exactly as possible, and are bound together with bast mat, and covered with grafting clay, as in common grafting. In five or six months the union will be complete; and the inarched plant will be ready to be separated from the parent, which is done with a very sharp knife, so as to leave a clean cut, and not a bruised one. The head of the stock, if it was left on when the plant was inarched, is then cut away, and the plant is ready for removal. It is, however, customary to keep on the grafting clay and ligature for a few weeks, till the plant is firmly established. This mode of propagation is very commonly practised with Camellias and Magnolias; and it is usual in nurseries to see a fine new kind of Camellia surrounded by a sort of frame, on which are several pots of stocks of the single red, placed at different heights for the convenience of attaching to them different branches of the choice kind, to undergo the process of inarching. In most of these cases the head of the stock is retained, and the scion introduced at the side; but as soon as the graft has taken, and has thrown out a sufficient number of leaves to carry on the elaboration of the sap, all the branches of the original plant above the graft are cut away to strengthen the inarched one.