TPIE APPLE 47 



a large crop of fruit. If the trees are not growing 

 vigorously it will be found profitable to apply some 

 stable manure or commercial fertilizer to them the sea- 

 son before grafting, as cions are nmch more sure to 

 grow in a vigorous stock than in one that is growing 

 slowly. Figure 27 shows a regrafted tree three years 

 from grafting. 



Cleft Grafting — The kind of grafting most prac- 

 ticed in renovating old trees is called cleft grafting, 

 because the cion is inserted in the cleft of the stock. 

 It consists in first cutting off as many branches, from 

 one to two inches in diameter (which are called 

 stocks), as are needed to make a full head, if the 

 whole tree is to be grafted. 

 This number will vary from 

 ten to perhaps twenty, ac- 

 cording to the size of the 

 tree. It is often the prac- 

 tice to graft only a part of 

 the tree the first year, com- 

 pleting the work the second 

 year, by which means the ^^^' 28-arafting chisei and 



J ' '^ . Wedge 



trees do not receive a severe 



check in growth. After the stocks are cut off with 

 a fine-toothed saw, cutting at a point where the 

 split will be straight grained, they are pared smoothly. 

 Then, beginning with the highest cleft, each stock is 

 split with the blade of the grafting chisel, Figure 28, 

 which should be made with a hook for convenience in 

 hanging it on a branch or on the handle of a basket 

 while working. The blade is now driven out by a blow 

 upon the head of the wedge, and the wedge driven into 

 the cleft to keep it open until the cion is inserted. 



The cion J Figure 29, is a piece of firm, mature 

 wood of last season's growth, taken from the outside 

 shoots of vigorous bearing trees, two or three inches long 



