Grafting: cleft grafting

Grafting describes any of a number of techniques in which a section of a stem with leaf buds is inserted into the stock of a tree. Grafting is useful however, for more than reproduction of an original cultivar. It is also used to repair injured fruit trees or for topworking an established tree to one or more different cultivars. Nurseries often use the budding method to produce fruit trees . Asphalt grafting compound is applied to a completed whip graft to prevent wood tissues from drying out.