lOcSo 



Rural School Leaflet 



then placed squarely across the cut surface a little above the center, and a 

 thin ton<^aie, about half an inch, is cut. The scion is then cut off so that it 

 contains three or more buds, the cut being made just above the top bud. 

 The stock is prepared in the same way as is the base of the scion. The 

 two are then placed together so that the tongue of one fits into the cleft 

 of the other. If the two are of the same size, the cambium layers can be 

 placed together on both sides of the branch ; but if one is smaller than the 

 other, the cambium layers are placed together on one side only. The graft 

 is then tied and waxed. 



Frequently in the West, and occasionally in the East, the nurseryman 

 . obtains his apple varieties by whip grafting 



I l I the scion on a piece of ajjple seedling root 



^ -^ from three to six inches long. The grafting 



is done in the winter or early spring. 



Cleft grafting. — When a tree is five or six 

 ' years old and comes into bearing, the grower 



sometimes finds that the variety is not what 

 he wants, and he wishes to top-work the tree 

 with the desired variety. The tree is too 

 large for whip grafting; therefore cleft grafting 

 is practiced. In early spring before the buds 

 start, a branch is sawed off, and care shoiild be 

 taken that the stock does not split. The stub 

 is then split two or three inches through the 

 center with a grafting chisel or a heavy knife. 

 A one-year-old branch of a good variety is 

 used for the scion, and the base is cut off 

 about an inch below a well-matured bud. 

 Two straight cuts are made; they start on 

 either side of this bud and come out at the 

 bottom in such a way that the base is wedge- 

 shaped from the bud downward, and is somewhat thicker on the outer, 

 or bud, side. This wedge should fit the cleft in the stock. The scion is 

 then cut off just above the third bud from the bottom. 



With the narrow wedge on the grafting chisel, or with a wedge-shaped 

 piece of wood, the cleft on the stock is forced open and the scion is inserted 

 so that its outside cambiimi layer is in contact with the cambium layer 

 of the stock at one side of the cleft. In order to insure this contact, 

 the top of the scion is tipped out a little so that the two cambiimi layers 

 will cross each other. A second scion is prepared and inserted in like 

 manner on the other side of the deft. When the wedge is removed the 

 cleft should grip the scions firmly. Since the scion wedges are thickest 



1 



Whip grafting 



