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drafting Apple Tree?, — Apple trees may be grafted in spring, any time 

 after severe cold weather is past, until the leaves are fully formed. There 

 are many different methods of grafting 

 in vogue among nurserymen and or- 

 chardists, but for large trees in the or- 

 chard, what is called cleft grafting is 

 the one usually practiced. In per- 

 forming the operation, the main stem, 

 if not more than an inch or two in di- 

 ameter, or a branch, or any number of 

 them on a large tree, is sawed off, and 

 the portion remaining is split down- 

 ward two inches or more with a large 

 knife or chisel, being careful not to 

 bruise or break the bark. Then a cion 

 from a tree which we desire to propa- 

 gate is cut, with two or three buds 

 upon it, as shonvn in Fig. 1, the lower 

 end being cut on each side, forming a 

 long, slender wedge. The cleft in the 

 stock may be held open with a small 

 hard wood or iron wedge, driven in 

 the center. When the cions are pre- 

 pared, insert one on each side of the 

 cleft, as is shown in Fig. 2, being care- 

 ful to have the outside of the wood of 

 both cion and stock exactly even, and 

 then withdraw the wedge, and the 

 stock will grasp and hold the ciona 

 firmly in place. The end of the stock 

 and the side clefts should then be 

 carefully covered with grafting wax, 

 for the purpose of excluding air and 

 water. To prevent the grafting wax 

 sticking to the fingers of the operator, 

 a little piece of tallow or other kind of 

 grease may be applied to the hand and 

 fingers each time, before taking hold 

 of the wax. 



When cions are to \)e taken from 

 trees in the same orchard or neighbor- 

 hood, they may be cut and inserted 

 the same day, even if somewhat ad- 

 vanced in growth of buds; but, as a 

 rule, the cions should be taken from 

 the trees before the buds begin to 

 swell in spring, and then put in a cool 

 cellar and rolled in damp moss cloth, 

 or buried in earth, where their growth 

 will be retarded. Grafting trees is a very simple operation, and almost any 

 Iboy who can whittle a stick can readily learn how to perform it successfully. 

 Make a clean smooth cleft in the stock, and use a sharp knife in preparing 

 the cion, and then see that the two join as we have directed, and there is lit- 



