104 



will heal over quickly and will not be injured for stocks by cutting back 

 and growing up again. On the contrary, this seems to make them more 

 vigorous and, if they are to be budded, they handle better than stocks 

 not cut back. 



Budding and Grafting the Nut Trees 

 The technic of budding and grafting can not be described satis- 

 factorily to properly instruct the beginner without the aid of special 

 illustrations, and as Dr. Colby, when, asking me to prepare this paper, 

 insisted that I keep the beginner especially in mind, I shall not try to 

 cover this phase of the work. We have a little booklet illustrating bud- 

 ding and grafting, however, and I shall be glad to mail a copy of this 

 free to any one desiring it. Budding and grafting is covered more 

 thoroughly, however, in the Government bulletins by Dr. C. A. Reed 

 and in Dr. ]\lorris's new book, "Nut Growing." 



Selecting and Cutting Scions for Grafting 

 It is getierally understood that in taking scions for grafting only 

 the one year growth is considered. With most of the nut trees however, 

 older scion wood, if iu)t too large, can also be used to advantage, and 

 with such trees as the pecan and shagbark hickory the older scion wood 

 is to be preferred, as it gives better stands of grafts. 



Scions of the black walnut, however, from growth older than one 

 year, is of little or no value for grafting. To the contrary, scions 

 of the English or Persian walnut from two year wood give excellent 

 stands of grafts usually. Scions for grafting should be cut early before 

 the sap gets active in the trees and should be selected from the best 

 growth, that is, good, solid, wood growth with as little pith as possible. 

 With a little experience, one will quickly detect poor scion wood without 

 cutting into the growth by the color of the bark and the large, plump 

 buds, set closer together. 



Storing and Keeping Scions for Grafting 

 It is not in the selection of scions that the beginner usually fails to 

 make his grafting a success, but in handling the scions. Scions for 

 grafting need not be put in cold storage. In fact cold storage, at the 

 usual temperatures, seems to be injurious to scions. Cool storage, that 

 is, temperatures maintained below the freeezing point, is O. K. but in 

 my experience this also is not necessary. We store them in a cellar with 

 a ground floor. This is damp and cool and the cases the scions are 

 stored in are without bottoms and set on the damp cellar floor. The 



