78 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM 



cured in moist earth on the north side of the house or other building, 

 where they will keep cool and damp until one is ready to use them. 

 At the East and other parts of this State where the ground is apt to 

 freeze, it is necessary to keep scions in the cellar with their butts 

 covered with moist sand, but over most of the area of the State 

 nothing more is needed than to put down in the earth at the base of 

 a tree or on the north side of a building, with, perhaps a box or barrel 

 inverted over them to keep out mice and other intruders. Care must 

 be taken not to let them dry up. If it is desirable for any reason to 

 keep scions dormant long into the spring or summer, of course storage 

 in a cool cellar is better, for in the open ground the scions will burst 

 into leaf after a warm spell of spring weather. 



In selecting wood for scions, as for bud sticks, never take water 

 shoots or suckers that start from the body of the tree and push up 

 through the older branches, but always give the preference to sound, 

 fully-matured wood, at the ends of the lower or nearly horizontal 

 branches. Careful experiments have shown that trees grown from 

 such scions are more likely to take on a low, spreading habit than 

 those from the central or upper branches. The scions should be tied 

 in bundles with a stout cord; and a piece of a shingle, with the name 

 of the variety written plainly and deeply thereon, should be tied in 

 with each bundle. 



Grafting Wax. In grafting, a good grafting wax is requisite. 

 The ingredients are mixed in different proportions by different 

 growers. A few recipes which are known to give good results are 

 as follows: 



Two and one-fourth Ibs. resin ; 2 Ibs. beeswax, 1/4 of a Ib. tallow. 



One Ib. mutton tallow; 2 Ibs. beeswax; 4 Ibs. resin. 



Two Ibs. resin ; 2 Ibs. beeswax ; J4 Ib- tallow, and a little linseed oil. 



Two Ibs. resin ; 1 Ib. beeswax, 1 quart linseed oil ; 4 tablespoonfuls turpentine. 



One Ib. beeswax; 5 Ibs. resin; 1 pint linseed oil; 1 oz. lampblack. 



One Ib. beeswax; 5 Ibs. resin; 1 pint linseed oil; 1 pint flour the flour 

 stirred in after the other ingredients have boiled together and cooled some- 

 what. 



All these mixtures are made with the aid of gentle heat, and during 

 grafting the wax must be kept warm enough to apply easily with a 

 small brush. To do this the wax dish may be kept on a hot brick, to be 

 changed for a fresh one as it cools, or, better still, is to heat the wax 

 in an old fruit can or something of that kind, inside another, which is 

 partly full of warm water. A more capacious heater can be made by 

 removing the top of a five-gallon oil can and making a hole for draft 

 on one side near the bottom. A slow fire can be kept going to heat the 

 wax pot which is suspended from a rod across the top. A wire handle 

 makes this outfit portable. The wax should not be so hot as to run 

 too easily, but just right to spread well. 



Grafting is greatly facilitated by the use of strips of waxed cloth 

 or waxed paper, the latter being quite good enough for grafts, which 

 are low enough to be protected by a ground covering; also for root 

 grafts. This waxed paper is made by spreading a thin coat of wax, 

 with a brush, upon tough, thin wrapping paper, cutting up the paper, 

 when cold, with a sharp knife, on a board, into strips about an inch 



