The season for indoor grafting is upon us, and the discussion of ways and means is now in order. I venture, therefore, to call the attention of the readers of The American Garden to a comparison of two methods - the one an old one in universal use, the other not a new one, but employed by few propagators. They are the whip-graft and the veneer-graft. There is an essential difference between the two methods. The whip-graft is so generally known that a description is unnecessary. A reference to Fig. 1 will ex-p 1 a in the veneer-graft: a shows the cuts upon stock and scion; these cuts are not to extend into the wood, but simply through the back, so that when placed in position the exposed broad surfaces of cambium come together; b shows stock and scion in contact, and bound with raffia or other material; c shows a veneer - grafted apple tree after one season's growth.

It seems almost unnecessary to remark that in grafting, when cut surfaces of hard wood are placed together no union takes place between them, and yet I have not unfrequently met practical men, who could graft well, who were not clear on this point, but supposed that union took place over the whole cut surface. It is in the cambium and young sapwood, and there only, that the power of union and growth lies.

Now, in the veneer-graft, the only cut surfaces of wood are the oblique end-cuts, and as stock and scion are placed together, the oblique cut on the scion is covered by the tongue of bark on the stock, so that if the work is well done union takes place all around the cut wood, and it is securely protected from outside influence. The oblique end-cut on the stock being surrounded by growing tissue is usually imbedded in new growth the first season. The union between the side-cuts, which should be of, the same width, and from an inch to an inch and a half in length, is complete throughout. This I have proved by making transverse and longitudinal sections of a large number of grafts. A portion of one of these transverse sections, taken from the point d, Fig. 1, is shown in Fig. 2. It was photographed from the microscope, and is magnified twenty-five diameters. The stock appears on the left, the scion on the right; the space between the woody parts is filled with a homogeneous growth of new tissue, and this extending throughout the length of the cuts insures free communication between stock and scion, and also gives a strength able to resist heavy strains from winds or other causes.

In the whip-graft we have large surfaces of cut wood; all the cuts extend through the wood. We depend for union upon the contact of a very narrow line of cambium. This line is a long one, it is true, but in very many cases it is not all available. If the scion is smaller than the stock we get union only on one side. If they are of the same size we are still liable to have some points in its extent, where from irregularities or inaccurate cuts we get no union, and these places serve as points of ingress for moisture, which induces decay in the dead tissue of the cut wood surfaces. Fig. 3 is a portion of a transverse section of a whip-graft after one season's growth, taken from the same relative point d, as noted in Fig. 1. It was made in the same way, and has the same magnification as Fig. 2. On the left we have the scion next to the tongue of the stock, then the tongue of the scion, and on the right the body of the stock. The white spaces show the extent of the cut wood surfaces which have not united.

New growth has taken place on both sides, and in the upper left-hand corner new tissue is wedging itself into the space between the scion and the tongue of the stock.

When the section was made these spaces were filled with granular particles of decayed wood, and a longitudinal section showed this to extend over all the cut wood surfaces. I have examined a number of whip-grafts after three and four years' growth, and have found that even when the exterior growth all around the graft was smooth and regular, there still existed this accumulation of rotten wood along the cut wood surfaces. Now, the question arises, Does this "ulcer of the heart" often or ever extend so far as to affect the vitality of the tree ?

At the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Chiswick is a collection of graft sections taken from trees 30 and 40 years old. According to Mr. Murray, these sections show plainly that this rot does extend, and in many cases to a presumably injurious degree.

In my own observations, confined to trees three and four years from the graft, the larger number of cases showed but slight extension of this rottenness. In a few cases it had considerably advanced, and in two cases had reached a positively injurious extent. We do not, however, expect our grafted fruit trees to live forever, and it may be that the occurrence of real injury from the source in question is too rare to be taken into account, so I do not wish to be understood as utterly condemning the whip-graft. If I have said enough to induce further observation among those who have abundant opportunity, I shall have ac-complished my purpose.

A word further may be given concerning the veneer-graft. The cuts are easier to make than those of the whip-graft, but there is this disadvantage, which to men who graft in quantity is an important consideration, that it requires more care in the tying. The band must be strong, and should be firmly adjusted, to insure keeping the scion in place until union is effected.

All my sections show that very perfect union is ob-tained by this method, and I would particularly recommend it for grafting all ornamental trees. Any extension of the decay spoken of as possible in whip-grafted trees must tend to weaken the tree at, or just below the surface of the ground, the very point where greatest strength is needed. With our ornamental trees, which we expect will live or thrive indefinitely, and many times in exposed situations, this liability is worth consideration. It need never arise from a well-executed veneer-graft.

I have practiced the two methods spoken of, and have had them under comparison for four seasons, and am more and more inclining to preference for the veneer graft. The reasons for* this preference seem to be based on the fundamental differences here explained.

E. S. Crandall. Michigan.