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Gardening

To graft, it is necessary to take the new growth that was produced within the year by the tree you wish to graft. And cut off a branch in which you can see that beside the place where the leaves join the stem, there are little buttons we call buds, the initial stages of a sprout. With dexterity you must, with a very sharp pen—knife, cut in the shape of a graft a small bit of the skin of the tree, which contains a bud or a sprout with the leaf, as you can see in B. Then on the tender wood, which is full of sap, and on which you wish to graft, cut quickly two lines as you can see , then add in the middle a slit thusly.

Figure at right bottom margin of folio 105r Then with the point of your pen—knife separate the bark from the tree, and open it from the slit in the middle, and having neatly lodged your graft so that nothing is sticking out, only the sprout, binding everything well and wrap the whole thing with a bit of linen or soft string. In this way, there will be nothing uncovered but the leaf, which in three or 4 days will indicate whether the graft has taken hold, by being green. Keep your graft in this way for seven or eight days. Then unwrap it, and join it to the bark, keeping the sprout itself straight, and then rewrap the whole thing gently, but not as strongly as before. And if there is any growth, leave it some room to grow and then three or four times

Figure at left bottom margin of folio 105r

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Then, when the graft has taken hold, cut the top of the tree, which is above your tree, three or four fingers above the graft for the first time. Then, closer so that it serves. But be advised that when you do your initial grafting there should be no small hole at the back of your sprout, because this means that root is broken and your graft will never take. Therefore make sure the back is in tact. This type of grafting can be done from mid—May onwards, because the trees have budded and made new growth, until the beginning of August when the trees are full of sap. Almond trees which are naturally drier lose their sap earlier. Those who want to graft onto them the almond trees mericotons, apricots and nut—tree grafts, which are the best, should do so usually in January. Nut trees, such as perches mericotons should be grafted en fente. It is said that trees graft by the shield—graft method take longer to bear fruit.