CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - ZetaTalk

138 Tflh’ NUiiS;ERY-i!lAN UALl’h?a4 ip-grwfiWhip- or tongue-graft& (1‘ is c~i~phyd 01dy 011 s~~~all stocks,usually those one or two years old. 130th tire Gon md stockare r*ut across clii~gonally, the ~1% surface cxt,entlingfrom 1 t,o 2 it 1&s, according to the siz!cof the part. A vertic4 cleft, is then ma& inbat.h, arid the two arc joined by irrsert,ing t,hefongue of the r+m il1t.o t.he cleft of the stocbk.The operation can be understood by referenceto Figs. I52, 153. Fig. 152 s110ws the end of acion, cut natural size. The stock is cut in thesame way, and the two arc joined in Figs. 153,154, 155, 156. The parts are held firmlyby a bandage- as bass bark or raffia- passed five or six times aroundOf whip-gruf t tllern. If the graft is to stand abovecx 1). ground, the wound must be protectedby applying wax over the bandage.Ally sharp and strong thin-bladed knife may beused for the making of whip-grafts. For small andtender plants, a common budding-knife is sufficient,but it is too light for most work. A good styleof knife for root-grafting is showr~ in Fig. 157. Itis much like a shoe-knife, with large cylindricalhandle and a stationary blade.Root-grafting, particularly of fruit stocks, isperformed almost entirely by the whip-graft, inwinter. The stocks, either one or two years old, are FIG 157dug and stored in autumn. In January or February Whip-&,zftthe grafting is begun. In true root-grafting, only E -~~~itionpieces of rotits are used ; but most nurserymen * ’prefer to use the whole root and graft at the crown, mukingthe strong “ root-grafts” of commerce known as “ whole roots.”