126 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



would be ideal for planting. In the past, 

 particularly in the Middle West, it has 

 been customary to allow the trees to stand 

 two years in the nursery before trans- 

 planting to the orchard. However, there 

 is now a growing sentiment in favor of 

 planting one-year trees, as they can be 

 grown at less cost, are more easily han- 

 dled, and more economically planted. 

 Trees may be transplanted to the orchard 

 in the fall if there has been rain enough 

 to malie the ground moist. South of the 

 latitude of St. Louis or Kansas City, in 

 the Middle West, fall planting is very de- 

 sirable if the ground is in proper condi- 

 tion. The majority of planting is done in 

 the spring, which is usually the most 

 satisfactory, especially in the North. If 

 it is known that other work will be 

 pressing in the spring, so that the work 

 of planting apple trees is likely to be 

 hurried or otherwise improperly done, 

 then they should be planted in the fall 



when more attention can be given to the 

 work. 



The whi]) or tongue graft is sometimes 

 employed for top working very young 

 trees in the orchard, particularly those 

 that are only one year old. For trees 

 of this age this method is regarded as 

 being better than the cleft graft. Tie 

 securely and cover with wax. 



Cleft Grafting 



While the whip or tongue graft de- 

 scribed above is the method in most gen- 

 eral use among nurserymen for the prop- 

 agation of apple trees, there is another 

 form known as cleft grafting that is 

 used very extensively by farmers and 

 others who have only a few trees. A 

 knowledge of cleft grafting is especially 

 useful where one has an apple tree that 

 has reacheii bearing age and is found to 

 be unsatisfactory, either in the kind or 

 quantity of its fruit. The tree may be 



Fig. 6. The Cleft Graft. The shoi-t spion (about four inches Ions) whittled to a wedge 

 sljape, is shown at a. The middle figui-e, h. shows how the stump or hi-anch is sawed off 

 and split, and how the two scions are inserted. Note that thi- inner part of the bark 

 of the scion is exactly in contact with the inner bark of the stock. The last figure, 

 c, illustrates how all cut surfaces must he thoroughly covered with hot grafting wax. 



