gle quick motion of the knife. If
the first cut is not satisfactory, a completely new one should be
made. There should be no paring of the cut, as this will make an
irregular or wavy surface and prevent the cuttings coming together
closely in all parts.

"The tongues are made with a slow, sliding motion of the knife. They
are commenced slightly above one-third of the distance from the sharp
end of the bevel and cut down until the tongue is just a trifle more
than one-third the length of the cut surface. The tongue should be
_cut_, not _split_. The knife should not follow the grain of the wood,
but should be slanted in such a way that the tongue will be about
one-half as thick as it would be if made by splitting. Before
withdrawing the knife it is bent over in order to open out the
tongue. This very much facilitates the placing together of stock and
scion.

"The stock and scion are now placed together and, if everything has
been done properly, there will be no cut surface visible and the
extremity of neither stock nor scion will project over the cut surface
of the other. It is much better that the points should not quite reach
the bottom of the cut surface than that they should overlap, as the
union will be more complete and the scions will be less liable to
throw out roots. If the points do overlap, the overlapping portion
should be cut off, as in the Champin grafts.

"A skillful grafter, by following the above-described method, will
make grafts most of which will hold together very firmly. Many of them
would be displaced, however, in subsequent operations, so that it is
necessary to tie them. This is done with raffia or waxed string. The
only object of the tying is to keep the stock and scion together until
they unite by the growth of their own tissues, so that the less
material used the better, provided this object is attained. For the
formation of healing tissue air is necessary, so that clay, wax,
tinfoil or anything that would exclude the air should not be used. The
tying material is passed twice around the point of the scion to hold
it down firmly, and then with one or two wide spirals it is carried to
the point of the stock, which is fastened firmly with two more turns
and the end of the string passed under the last turn. The less string
is used the more easily it is removed later in the nursery.

"Untreated raffia should be used for late grafts which are to be
planted directly out in the nursery, but if the