For thousands of years people did graft as you say. The Magic of Grafting | Cider Review
In the bible written thousands of years ago says in Romans 11:17 “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;”
This refers to the practice of grafting olives. Who knows how far back the practice of grafting actually goes.
We think it went back as far as 2000 BC Grafting - Wikipedia.
" Fertile CrescentEdit
As humans began to domesticate plants and animals, horticultural techniques that could reliably propagate the desired qualities of long-lived woody plants needed to be developed. Although grafting is not specifically mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, it is claimed that ancient Biblical text hints at the practice of grafting. For example, Leviticus 19:19, which dates to around 1400 BCE, states “[the Hebrew people] shalt not sow their field with mingled seed…” (King James Bible). Some scholars believe the phrase mingled seeds includes grafting, although this interpretation remains contentious among scholars.
Grafting is also mentioned in the New Testament. In Romans 11, starting at verse 17, there is a discussion about the grafting of wild olive trees concerning the relationship between Jews and Gentiles.
By 500 BCE grafting was well established and practiced in the region as the Mishna describes grafting as a commonplace technique used to grow grapevines.[25]
ChinaEdit
According to recent research: “grafting technology had been practiced in China before 2000 BC”.[26] Additional evidence for grafting in China is found in Jia Sixie’s 6th century CE agricultural treatise Qimin Yaoshu (Essential Skills for the Common People).[27] It discusses grafting pear twigs onto crab apple, jujube and pomegranate stock (domesticated apples had not yet arrived in China), as well as grafting persimmons. The Qimin yaoshu refers to older texts that referred to grafting, but those works are missing. Nonetheless, given the sophistication of the methods discussed, and the long history of arboriculture in the region, grafting must have already been practiced for centuries by this time.
Greece and Rome, and Islamic Golden AgeEdit
In Greece, a medical record written in 424 BCE contains the first direct reference to grafting. The title of the work is On the Nature of the Child and is thought to be written by a follower of Hippocrates. The language of the author suggests that grafting appeared centuries before this period.
In Rome, Marcus Porcius Cato wrote the oldest surviving Latin text in 160 BCE. The book is called De Agri Cultura (On Farming Agriculture) and outlines several grafting methods. Other authors in the region would write about grafting in the following years, however, the publications often featured fallacious scion-stock combinations.
During the European Dark Ages, Arabic regions were experiencing an Islamic Golden Age of scientific, technological, and cultural advancement. Creating lavishly flourished gardens would be a common form of competition among Islamic leaders at the time. Because the region would receive an influx of foreign ornamentals to decorate these gardens, grafting was used much during this period.[25]
Europe and the United StatesEdit
Possible deliberate grafts on a sessile oak in Ayrshire, Scotland
After the fall of the Roman Empire, grafting survived in the Christian monasteries of Europe until it regained popular appeal during the Renaissance. The invention of the printing press inspired a number of authors to publish books on gardening that included information on grafting. One example, A New Orchard and Garden: Or, the Best Way for Planting, Graffing, and to Make Any Ground Good for a Rich Orchard, Particularly in the North, was written by William Lawson in 1618. While the book contains practical grafting techniques, some even still used today, it suffers from exaggerated claims of scion-stock compatibility typical of this period.
While grafting continued to grow in Europe during the eighteenth century, it was considered unnecessary in the United States as the produce from fruit trees was largely used either to make cider or feed hogs.[25]
French Wine PandemicEdit
Beginning in 1864, and without warning, grapevines across France began to sharply decline. Thanks to the efforts of scientists such as C. V. Riley and J. E. Planchon, the culprit was identified to be phylloxera, an insect that infests the roots of vines and causes fungal infections. Initially, farmers unsuccessfully attempted to contain the pest by removing and burning affected vines. When it was discovered that phylloxera was an invasive species introduced from North America, some suggested importing rootstock from the region as the North American vines were resistant to the pest. Others, opposed to the idea, argued that American rootstocks would imbue the French grapes with an undesirable taste; they instead preferred to inject the soil with expensive pesticides. Ultimately, grafting French vines onto American rootstocks became prevalent throughout the region, creating new grafting techniques and machines. American rootstocks had trouble adapting to the high soil pH value of some regions in France so the final solution to the pandemic was to hybridize the American and French variants.[25]"
I highly recommend watching the video in this old post
This could be a separate topic @beforeIdie. Almost anything can be used for grafting, including simple plastic bags you have around the house or string. The graft should be water proofed in some way with wax or tar etc.