Page 10 



BETTER FRUIT 



WITH A PURPOSE 



TO ATTRACT ATTENTfON 

 ^ ^ AND CREATE SALES 



ISchmidi 



LITHO 



SAN FRANaSCO 



4-7/i YEAR ^ 

 SERVICE 5J^ 

 UALITY 



"^^ SEATTLE- rORTLAND 

 ^ SACRAflENTo- FRESNO 

 LOg ANGELES- HONOLULU 



Points On the Art of Top Working Fruit Trees 



By W. S. Brown, Professor of Pom 



REASONS for top working: Fruit 

 trees are top worked usually for 

 one or more of the following reasons: 

 To change from unsuitable to desirable 

 varieties. To place weak-growing wood 

 of certain varieties upon strong stock. 

 To work over seedlings or varieties that 

 are immune to certain diseases. To 

 shape over an old tree top or to fill in 

 after accident. To provide for cross- 

 pollination in an orchard. 



Description of Top Working. 



Trees may be budded in the summer 

 as soon as mature wood and good 

 plump buds are available. The peach 

 may be worked over in this way about 

 midsummer, the cherry a little later, the 

 apple and pear in the latter part of Au- 

 gust or the first part of September. The 

 equipment for budding consists of a 

 knife with a sharp blade rounded at the 

 point and sometimes fitted with a horn 

 scapel at the other end of the handle 



ology, Oregon Agricultural College 



for lifting the lid of the cut, before the 

 bud is inserted. Besides the knife, one 

 needs strands of ratTia cut in proper 

 lengths for tying and thoroughly 

 moistened. Limbs or "bud sticks" from 

 trees of the variety desired are taken 

 to the field in wet gunny sacks and 

 kept thoroughly moistened. All bud 

 sticks should have their leaves cut off, 

 leaving the leaf stems in place. 



The act of budding, when understood, 

 is a simple one. It consists first in 

 choosing a point on the branch where 

 the new bud when set will have a good 

 opportunity for growth and will grow- 

 in the right direction to shape the tree 

 properly, etc. Then a T cut is made in 

 this branch. The downward cut or 

 stem of the T is made first. Then the 

 transverse cut is made by holding the 

 knife blade at a slight angle in order to 

 lift the bark when this cut goes across 

 the stem of the T. Next, if it is neces- 

 sary, the bark is lifted somewhat to 



October, 1919 



allow the bud to slip into place. The 

 hud slick should then be taken and one 

 of the buds removed carefully with a 

 knife. This is done by starting the cut 

 from one-third to a half inch above the 

 bud and cutting carefully underneath 

 the bud, including some of the wood, 

 and coming out about one-half inch 

 below the bud. With the stem as a 

 handle, the bud can be taken and 

 I)ushed gently down into the T cut made 

 on the branch. When the bud is solidly 

 in place, the upper portion of the bud 

 wood should be cut olf transversely so 

 that Ihe wood will fit down tightly upon 

 Ihe stock. The stock is then wrapped 

 carefully with rallia, beginning below 

 the bud at the bottom of the T cut and 

 working upward, taking care not to 

 cover the bud itself, but wrapping se- 

 curely about the top of the T. A good 

 square knot, drawn tight, should be 

 used. As soon as the bud has "stuck," 

 which will usually be in about two 

 weeks, the rafha should be cut in order 

 that it may not girdle the branch and 

 kill the bud. 



Spring budding is often done soon 

 after the sap has begun to flow by using 

 buds from sticks cut and kept in a dor- 

 mant condition until time of setting. 



When it is desired to work over apple 

 or pear wood two or three years of age, 

 whip grafting is frequently used. WTiip 

 grafting is performed by making a 

 smooth and straight diagonal cut across 

 the branch to be grafted. Then a split 

 of about an inch down through the cen- 

 ter of the limb completes the cutting. 

 The scion to be grafted upon this 

 branch should be of last year's wood, 

 cut when the buds are entirely dormant 

 and prepared for grafting by making a 

 diagonal cut similar to the cut made on 

 the stock. The stock and scion should 

 be carefully fitted together, so that the 

 cambium layers of the stock and scion 

 may coincide at least upon one side. 

 Unless the cambium layers touch at 

 some point the graft will not be suc- 

 cessful. Two or three buds are left 

 upon the scion. Finally the scion is 

 either waxed carefully or is wrapped 

 with waxed muslin or waxed string. 

 This grafting may be done in the early 

 spring from" a time shortly before the 

 sap begins to flow until the buds have 

 begun to open. 



Large Trees. 

 Often it becomes necessary to work 

 over an old tree in order to change the 

 variety or to fill in the top after some 

 accident. A sleet or snow storm may 

 have taken a valuable limb out of the 

 top. Grafting is the only way by 

 which this condition can be remedied. 

 On the large trees budding is very sel- 

 dom used. Here and there on a one- 

 year-old sucker or limb, budding may 

 be used to try out a new variety or for 

 purposes of cross-pollination. 



Cleft and bark grafting are the meth- 

 ods used for top working pome and 

 stone fruits. The cleft graft is more 

 popular for the apple and pear, while 

 the bark graft is used more frequently 

 for the stone fruits, except peaches. The 

 apple and pear lend themselves best to 

 cleft grafting because the wood is so 



Continued on page 21. 



