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CHAP. 26. (16 )—GRAFTING BY SUTCHEONS.1

Grafting by scutcheons would appear to owe its origin to that by inoculation; but it is suited more particularly to a thick bark, such as that of the fig-tree for instance. For this purpose, all the branches are cut off, in order that they may not divert the sap, after Which the smoothest part is selected in the stock, and a scutcheon2 of the bark removed, due care being taken that the knife does not go below it. A similar piece of bark from another tree, with a protuberant bud upon it, is then inserted in its place, care being taken that the union is so exact that there is no room left for a cicatrix to form, and the juncture so perfect as to leave no access to either damp or air: still, however, it is always the best plan to protect the scutcheon by means of a plaster of clay and a band. Those who favour the modern fashions pretend that this method has been only discovered in recent times; but the fact is, that we find it employed by the ancient Greeks, and described by Cato,3 who recommends it for the olive and the fig; and he goes so far as to determine the very dimensions even, in accordance with his usual exactness. The scutcheon, he says, when taken off with the knife should be four4 fingers in length, and three in breadth. It is then fitted to the spot which it is to occupy, and anointed with the mixture of his which has been previosly described.5 This method, too, he recommends for the

Some persons have adopted another plan with the vine, which consists partly of that of grafting by scutcheon, and partly by fissure; they first remove a square piece of bark from the stock, and then insert a slip in the place that is thus laid bare. I once saw at Thuliæ,6 near Tibur, a tree that had been grafted7 upon all these various ways, and loaded with fruit of every kind. Upon one branch there were nuts to be seen, upon another berries, upon another grapes, upon another pears, upon another figs, and upon others pomegranates, and several varieties of the apple; the tree, however, was but very short-lived. But, with all our experiments, we find it quite impossible to rival Nature; for there are some plants that can be reproduced in no other manner than spontaneously, and then only in wild and desert spots. The plane8 is generally considered the best adapted to receive every kind of graft, and next to it the robur; both of them, however, are very apt to spoil the flavour of the fruit. Some trees admit of grafting upon them in any fashion, the fig and the pomegranate for instance; the vine, however, cannot be grafted upon by scutcheon, nor, indeed, any other of the trees which has a bark that is thin, weak, or cracked. So, too, those trees which are dry, or which contain but little moisture, will not admit of grafting by inoculation. This last method is the most prolific of them all, and next to it that by scutcheon, but neither of them can be depended upon, and this last more particularly; for when the adherence of the bark is the only point of union the scutcheon is liable to be immediately displaced by the slightest gust of wind. Grafting by insertion is the most reliable method, and the tree so produced will bear more fruit than one that is merely planted.

(17.) We must not here omit one very singular circumstance. Corellius, a member of the Equestrian order at Rome, and a native of Ateste, grafted a chesnut, in the territory of Neapolis, with a slip taken from the same tree, and from this was produced the chesnut which is so highly esteemed, and from him has derived its name. At a later period again, Etereius, his freedman, grafted the Corellian9 chesnut afresh. There is this difference between the two; the Corellian is more prolific, but the Etereian is of superior quality.

1 "Emplastrum." Properly, the little strip of bark, which is fitted in with the eye, and which is plastered or soldered down.

2 "Scutula." So called from its resemblance to a "little shield."

3 De Re Rust. 42.

4 Cato says, three and a-half.

5 Chalk and cow-dung. See c. 24 of this Book.

6 Perhaps "Tuliæ;" which would mean, according to Festus, the "cascades" or "waterfalls" of Tibur, now Tivoli.

7 Fée says, that if we take the word "rafted" here in the strictest sense, Pliny must have seen as great a marvel as any of those mentioned in the "Arabian Nights;" in fact, utter impossibilities. He thinks it possible, however, that a kind of mock grafting may have been produced in the case, still employed in some parts of Italy, and known as the "greffe-Diane." A trunk of an orange tree is split, and slips of numerous trees are than passed into it, which in time throw out their foliage and blossoms in various parts of the tree, or at the top; the consequence of which is, that the stock appears to bear several varieties of blossoms at the same moment. It is lot improbable that Pliny was thus imposed upon.

8 The plane and the oak are no longer employed for the purpose.

9 See B. xv. c. 25.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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