222 



RENOVATING OLD ORCHARDS 



sired variety with very little loss of time. If the same tree were 

 to be worked over by cleft grafting it would simply be necessary 

 to insert cions in all of the main shoots shown on this tree, per- 

 haps ten in number. 



When water-sprouts, or other relatively small branches, can 

 not be had then we may resort to crown or bark grafting or to 

 Coburn grafting in order to lower the top. In the first of these 

 methods the branch to be grafted is sawed off at the desired 

 height, which may be well down toward the trunk, and the cions. 



Fig. 101. — The same tree as Fig. 100 after on« season's growth. Notice foliage vigor. 

 Fig. 102. — The same tree as Fig. 99 after three years' treatment. 



cut to a thin wedge, are pushed down between the bark and the 

 wood. There is no splitting of the branch, as in cleft grafting, 

 and consequently very much larger branches may be worked over. 

 A six-inch, or even an eight-inch branch, may be used. And the 

 cions, being pushed right into the cambium layer of the stub, are 

 almost sure to grow. The objection to the method is that it takes 

 several years for the cions and stock to unite firmly, considerably 

 longer than with cleft grafting, and during this time the cions 

 frequently blow out if the orchard is in a windy location. In 

 the Coburn method the incisions are made with a sharp saw 

 instead of by splitting the stub as in cleft grafting, and this 

 lessens very greatly the danger of d«cay starting in the stub. 



