TOP WORKING OLD TREES 95 



The soil is scraped away from the base of the seedling and 

 the top is removed with a two-handled pruning shears. 

 This cut may be square across or on a slight slant ; the latter 

 is usually preferred. The operator kneels on the ground 

 and with his knife makes a cut on the side of the stock 

 as illustrated in Fig. 43. This cut should be about one and 

 one-half inches long, rounding in sharply at the bottom and 

 coming out nearly straight with the grain at the top. The 

 cion is cut in the same way as for the whip graft and inserted 

 in the same manner. The tongue on the stock should 

 start somewhat below the top and run down straight with 

 the grain of the wood. The bottom of the cion should 

 come down as far as the cut on the stock, and make a 

 close, smooth connection. The union is than tied up with 

 raffia or waxed cloth and this is covered with wax. The 

 soil is then pulled back around the base of the tree so as to 

 cover the union leaving only the top of the cion exposed. 

 The process is the same when used on the branches above 

 ground but more attention should be given to the waxing. 

 Top Working Old Trees. Many trees for one reason 

 or another bear undesirable fruit and are worked over to 

 other varieties. It may be a seedling which has never 

 been grafted or some standard variety unsuited to a par- 

 ticular market or locality. The trees may be only a few 

 years old or of many decades, but so long as they are healthy 

 they may be grafted. There are other reasons for top-work- 

 ing trees, such as vigor, resistance to cold or insect troubles, 

 adaptability to soils, length of life, etc., all of which will 

 be discussed later. An up-to-date orchardist will not 

 have any drones among his trees. They will all be grafted 



