This is a pretty operation when one
has the taste and leisure for it, and a new, high-priced variety
can sometimes be obtained speedily and cheaply in this way.
Usually, however, new kinds soon drop down within the means of
almost any purchaser, and there are advantages in having each
variety growing upon its own root. Nature yields to the skill of
the careful gardener, and permits the insertion of one distinct
variety of fruit upon another; but with the vine she does not
favor this method of propagation and change, as in the case of
pears and apples, where the graft forms a close, tenacious union
with the stock in which it is placed. Mr. Fuller writes: "On
account of the peculiar structure of the wood of the vine, a
lasting union is seldom obtained when grafted above-ground, and is
far from being certain even when grafted below the surface, by the
ordinary method." The vine is increased so readily by easy and
natural methods, to be explained hereafter, that he who desires
nothing more than to secure a good supply of grapes for the table
can dismiss the subject. On the other hand, those who wish to
amuse themselves by experimenting with Nature can find abundant
enjoyment in not only grafting old vines, but also in raising new
seedlings, among which he may obtain a prize which will "astonish
the natives.
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