222 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



in boiling. The formula may be varied by using as much as 10 or 

 as little as 2 pounds of resin to the pound of beeswax, according to the 

 desired consistency of the wax. The greater proportion of resin the 

 harder will be the wax, and vice versa. Harder wax is necessary in 

 hot weather, as it should not be soft enough to melt and run. This 

 is less likely to occur in nursery than in top grafting. If too much 

 resin is used, the wax is then hard and brittle. Resin is much cheaper 

 than beeswax, and in nursery work may usually be used in the larger 

 proportions mentioned. One half pound of tallow may be substituted 

 for the pint of oil. In some cases one pound of flour or one to two 

 pounds of powdered charcoal is added to the formula and thoroughly 

 mixed in, with the idea of giving the wax more body and elasticity. 

 Some have substituted paraffine for part of the beeswax in nursery 

 grafting. This is much cheaper. The wax requires heat in order to 

 keep it in a liquid condition, which may be supplied by means of a 

 small fire, or more conveniently, by such an arrangement as that shown 

 in Fig. 31 3. This consists of a coal-oil can with a round hole in the 

 side, over which a disk of tin is fastened in such a manner that it may be 

 raised or lowered for a door. In the bottom of this can is placed a 

 small oil stove on which is set the pot of wax. A handle at the top com- 

 pletes the apparatus, which, while crude, is very satisfactory. Another 

 very good device is that used by plumbers for keeping a pot of solder 

 in a melted condition. 



After thorough waxing, in which no cut portion of the stock or scion 

 should be left uncovered, the dirt should be hoed back again about 

 the newly grafted trees, covering scion and bud completely with soil. 

 This must be done very carefully, in order not to displace or knock out 

 the scions, and the dirt should be worked up as fine as possible with 

 the hoe and all hard lumps and rocks removed. This is a consideration 

 to be kept in mind in choosing soil for a walnut nursery, as the success 

 of grafting by this method depends quite largely on thorough cover- 

 ing of the grafts with loose soil. 



In grafting by this method on a large scale several men can work 

 in combination to advantage, rather than for one man to do everything. 

 It is of advantage, for instance, for the man who does the actual graft- 

 ing to do nothing else but this, since otherwise he must be continually 

 getting up and down, going ahead and back, and losing much time. 

 The better arrangement is for one man to hoe the dirt away from the 

 trees before they are cut off, hoe it back again after grafting is com- 

 pleted, and perhaps help in some other way if this does not keep him 

 busy. One man can cut off the seedlings and also do the tying and 

 waxing, first working on ahead of the grafters until he has cut off 

 enough trees to keep them busy for some little time, then coming back 

 and attending to the grafts which they have put in. He should not get 



