.

[Illustration: DIAGRAM 23. Old method of lengthening neck, the dotted
lines show it shifted forward and the part above the button cut away.]

[Illustration: DIAGRAM 24. Modern French method of grafting head.]

[Illustration: DIAGRAM 25. Modern English method of grafting head.]

[Illustration: DIAGRAM 26. Foreign secret method of grafting
occasionally met with.]

[Illustration: DIAGRAM 27. Method occasionally met with, Italian.]

Another method has been known as the French, and when neatly done is
one of the most sparing of the old wood (see diagram 24), but it is
beaten in this respect by another foreign method (diagram 26), which
is less evident to the eye, although requiring more skill in accurate
cutting and adjustment. Another yet more secret I have only seen in
an Italian grafting, and it may be native; no join whatever is seen
in a front view nor in the peg-box if this part is at all soiled or
dusty, as is usually the case. This is owing to the join--there must
be one of course--being each side at the angles formed by the walls
of the peg-box. This is counterbalanced however by the necessary
cutting away of the central line or ridge at the back for a considerable
distance. If done accurately and artistically, all very well, but this
is not likely to be always the case, although a comparatively easy bit
of work with the original lines each side as a guide. This method of
grafting is puzzling when successful, as little or nothing is
perceptible from the front and not much, unless searched for, at the
back.

On measuring the different parts of an old violin in its original
condition, we shall find the neck, taking from the edge of the upper
shoulder of the instrument to a point where the nut is placed, to be
not much more than four and a half inches, whereas our modern necks
measured at the same parts would give five inches and an eighth. The
old length taken at this part alone would give too short a fingerboard,
causing the fingers to hamper each other, especially in the upper part
of the register, where so many modern composers seek for effective
passages. The neck must, therefore, to meet the requirements of the
day, be lengthened. In the earlier part of the present century there
was a method much in vogue for effecting this without interfering with
the head and while keeping the greater part of the original neck
(diagram 23). This was done by firstly removing the fingerboard,
probably worn into ruts; t