330 



PEAR GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



PREPARATION OF TREES FOR GRAFTING. 



Smaller limbs are more easily and more successfully grafted than 

 those that are larger. When it is decided to graft a tree over to some 

 other variety, a suitable number of branches from two to four inches 

 in diameter are chosen, and cut off low down near the point where the 

 first set of framework branches emanate from the main trunk. Care 

 should be used in sawing off the branches to prevent splitting as a 



FIG. 135. Large Easter Beurre grafts on Winter Nelis stock. This tree was 

 not grafted until 40 years old. 



smooth cut is conducive to healing after grafts have been inserted. 

 Sometimes the entire top is cut from the tree at once. This should be 

 done in the case of younger trees, one to five years of age, but in the 

 case of older bearing trees the elimination of the entire top at once may 

 be too great a shock, consequently some of the branches are left until 

 the grafts have made a good growth, when they are removed. 



METHODS. 



The common type of graft is known as a cleft graft. In this method 

 the stub to be grafted is split through the center with a chisel or 

 special grafting tool. If the branch is large, e. g., 4 inches in diameter, 

 it will be necessary to split it twice at right angles so that four scions 

 instead of two can be inserted. Still larger branches may require addi- 

 tional splitting. The scion should be cut from a healthy, heavy- 

 producing tree of the desired variety. It must be one-year-old wood 

 selected because of its thrifty habits of growth and large, strong 

 buds. Water-sprout growth should never be chosen for grafting pur- 

 poses. Neither should scions be cut from trees that have never borne 

 and whose characters of production have consequently never been 

 determined. After scions of the right kind have been selected they 

 are cut in lengths of about four inches, or such lengths as will contain 

 two or three buds. The large end of the scion to be inserted in the split 



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