Chapter LXIV: Budding and Grafting

TO most boys and girls, the marvelous method of getting new varieties of fruit is a matter of great interest.

In budding, as you know, a bud is set under the bark of
a growing plant.

In grafting, the top of the plant is cut off and a
branch of another plant is inserted. These branches are
usually cut in the Autumn and kept in sand all winter.

In the Spring, the tree to be grafted is cut and
the branch (or, scion) is inserted, as shown in the
accompanying drawing, and held in place by raffia and
grafting wax.

It was not until the boys’ second winter at the garden school that they experimented with grafting peach trees and budding rose bushes, and it was a year later before they knew the result of their work.

If you are particularly interested in the subject, send to the United States Department of Agriculture for Bulletin No. 157, on “The Propagation of Plants.”