THE SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 61 



After having sawed off the branches the stumps or subjects to be worked on 

 should have the tops neatly smoothed over with a sharp knife, so as to have a clean, 

 smooth surface, particularly along the edge. From two to four scions should be 

 placed in each stock, the number of course being regulated by the size of the stump. 

 Cut out a V-shaped piece of bark; the distance from the top of the stock to the point 

 of the V should be from 1 to 1^4 inches. 



Select a scion of the proper size, making a sloping cut along the lower end, as long 

 or somewhat longer than the incision on the stock. The scions should be cut the 

 same as for a whip graft, except that the cut is all on one side and should have a 





White Adriatic Fig tree, with summer growth of graft. 

 From an original photograph. 



little more bevel, and the second cut for the tongue of the whip graft should be 

 omitted. The scions should never be smaller than an ordinary lead pencil; as a rule 

 scions from 2-year-old wood, as they have very little pith, with a diameter of five- 

 sixteenths to one-half inch, will be found to give the best results. 



The scion should be of such a size that it fits snugly into the opening in the stock, 

 so that the bark on both sides of the scion touches the bark of the stock. After the 

 scions are inserted, wrap tightly with five or six-ply cotton twine, so as to hold them 

 in place, and cover the wounds as well as the stub with liquid grafting wax. Also be 

 careful to wax the top of the scion to prevent drying out. Never use wax cloth for 

 wrapping, or if you do, be careful to remove it early in the summer before the warm 

 weather sets in or the bark, when the grafts are set, will be smothered and the grafts 

 will die. After the scions have become well united, which takes from two to three 

 months, the strings can be cut. 



The writer prefers this method of grafting to all others, and has had no difficulty 

 in making fully 90 per cent, of the scions grow, many of them making a growth of 

 five to seven feet in a single season. This method of grafting cannot be practiced 

 until the sap begins to flow, and from the latter part of February to the 1st of April 

 has been found to be the best time. The scions should never be more than four 

 inches long. 



The grafting wax should be melted in a pot and put on hot, using a small paint 

 brush, or a brush made out of short pieces of hay rope tied to a small stick 



