PROPAGATION OF CITRUS TREES. 393 



end of the grafting iron, or, if a knife is used, by a wooden 

 wedge prepared for the purpose. The cions should have 

 three or four buds and should be four or five inches in 

 length. Prepare them by trimming the lower end to a 

 wedge (fig. 49) with the outer edge slightly wider than 

 the inner. The sloping cuts should be about one and 

 a half inches long. Slip the cion down into the cleft 

 until the whole of the cut surface is within the cleft 

 (fig. 49.) The thicker edge should be outside, so that 

 the stock may bring the cambium edges more intimately 

 in contact by its pressure against it. If the stock be 

 large, two cions may be inserted, one in each side of the 

 cleft. After inserting the cion or cions, the stock should 

 be firmly bound with strips of waxed cloth. The cut 

 surface should be covered over with grafting wax to pre- 

 vent loss of moisture. If the top of the cion has been cut 

 off it should also be covered with a little of the wax. If 

 the cion has been inserted below the ground, the earth 

 should be heaped up around it, covering all except the 

 last bud. No further attention is needed until growth 

 starts, at which time the bandage should be severed, either 

 in the space between the cions where two have been in- 

 serted, or in case only one has been put in, then on the 

 side opposite it. The growing shoot should be tied as 

 directed under budding. 



This method is one of the best to use in top- working 

 trees, when it is desired to change from one variety to an- 

 other. In hot, dry climates, the removal of a large portion 

 of the sheltering leaves and twigs leaves the trunk and 

 main branches exposed to the hot rays of the sun. This 

 will result in serious injury to the exposed parts. A 

 very satisfactory protection can be afforded by a thin 

 coating of whitewash, applied with a spray pump. 



