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["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

The wax-resin-oil or tallow mix would probably be the most universally available.  However, why not use a latex-containing sap if it's available?  Depending on the species of plant, if it has enough latex in it, it could dry to a tough enough coating to protect a graft.
Clay would work if you could protect it enough to keep it from cracking off before the graft healed.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
On Sep 4, 2006, at 8:20 AM, Thomas Olenio wrote:


Hello,

You will have to hank Cato (Marcus Porcius Cato) who lived 234 BC for  
writing down those grafting instructions.

Though I suppose we could modify them a bit with modern knowledge and  
materials.

We often hear of engineers designing simple, reliable water pumps for  
Africa.  They often turn to older designs of the Amish and Mennonites for  
inspiration.

Why an't we (NAFEX) devise a set of instructions using simple materials,  
to produce reliable results, for under-developed areas of the world?  We  
have the experience and and know-how.