GRAFT OLD TREES BY THE CLEFT METHOD 



in animal or vegetable life, had its origin in a cell, 

 and continues by cell growth. We may modify it, 

 create new varieties, but the Why, life's secret of 

 the cell, is beyond our present knowledge. 



Graft Old Trees by the Cleft Method 



It is not difficult to graft over large trees, by in- 

 serting the scions into the large limbs seven or 

 eight inches in diameter. When this is done a 

 branch should be left occasionally to draw the sap 

 and to shade the grafts. Such limbs may be grafted 

 the following season or cut out to give the full sap 

 flow to the new growth. Suckers will grow on the 

 old stock for two or three years. It requires much 

 care to keep them pulled off. This should not be 

 neglected, if the tree is to be converted into a pro- 

 lific bearing tree of the English variety. 



The following illustration shows a stump twelve 

 inches in diameter, four feet three inches high, 

 grafted into the English. Six grafts were put into 

 the stump, five of which grew. The tree was grafted 

 about the middle of April and the photo was taken 

 the first of September. The growth to that date 

 was thirteen feet, and the tree will doubtless make 

 a growth of sixteen feet during the first year. 



[47] 



