GRAFTING.--The process of grafting consists in taking off a shoot from one tree, and inserting it into another, in such a manner as that both may unite closely, and become one tree; the shoot or cutting thus employed is called a _scion_, and the tree on which it is inserted or grafted, a stock. The process of budding has precisely the same object in view as that of grafting, differing from the latter process only in the insertion of a bud, instead of a shoot or cutting, into the bark of another tree. To execute either process with adroitness and success, considerable practice is required. To excel in either, instructions should be received from some competent person, who is both willing and able to impart the necessary information. More knowledge can be acquired in a short time in this manner than can possibly be attained by the most attentive perusal of any treatise expressly written upon the subject. Impressed with the difficulty of the task, many writers have indeed asserted, that description alone must ever fail to convey an adequate knowledge of the process; but the intelligent author of the English Gardener has, with his usual ability, treated the subject in so clear and comprehensive a manner that we are induced to give the details of the process in the author's own language.
Before entering upon the subject of grafting and budding, there is one thing which is equally applicable to both processes, and that is, that the _stock_ ought to stand the whole summer upon the spot where it is grafted, before that operation is performed upon it. If stocks be planted out in the fall, the sap does not rise vigorously enough in the spring to afford a fair chance to the growing of the graft; another remark of equal importance is, that fruit-trees stand only _one summer_ on the spot whence they are to be removed to their final destination; because, if they stand longer than this, they will have large and long roots, great amputation must take place, and the trees suffer exceedingly.
_The Time of Grafting_ is generally from the beginning of February to the end of March,[1] beginning with the earliest sorts of trees, as plums, cherries, and pears; and ending with the latest, as apples. But seasons are different, and in a backward season, the season for grafting will be backward; and in such case, the fulness and bursting appearance of the buds of the stocks, and the mildness of the weather must be our guides. However, it is certain that the mild weather, with occasional showers, is the best time for grafting.