GRAFTING WAX. In grafting small or delicate plants, the use of clay is scarcely practicable, and various compositions of different substances have been prepared for answering the same purpose. It is essential that whatever is used should not be injurious to the cuts which have to be covered, either by drying or burning them up. Neither must it crack or run off under the action of natural heat and moisture. What is known as warm mastic is applied in a lukewarm state, by means of a small brush or broad wooden label. A good Grafting Wax for using lukewarm may be made of three parts each of resin and beeswax, and two parts of tallow; or these ingredients may be prepared in equal proportions by melting all together in an iron pot over the fire, and afterwards allowing the composition to cool. Burgundy pitch and various other substances are sometimes used in compositions. An excellent preparation that may be purchased in tin boxes, and applied cold, is the French cold Grafting Wax, sold under the name of Mastic l'homme Lefort. This may be spread on the graft with a flat piece of wood, and it hardens by exposure to the air. Cold mastics are not so well suited for autumn grafting outside as warm ones, the frost sometimes having an injurious effect on the grafts through a soft substance. Grafting Wax may be applied to large as well as small plants, if desired.