PROPAGATION BY BUDDING AND GRAFTING 151 



gradually tails out until it breaks off just below the lowest 

 point of the cleft. The flattened upper part is then wrapped 

 around the cion from either side, completely and tightly 

 encircling it. A simple deft wrapping of the wax about the 

 cion makes a tighter joint than can be secured in twice the 

 time by any method of pinching it into place. Another pad 

 of wax is now flattened and applied over the end of the stub. 

 Most grafters apply a bit of wax to the tops of the cion also. 

 All the wounds must be covered securely. 

 For applying the wax warm, a heater 

 is needed. A good form is shown in 

 Fig. 175 (Peck, Cornell Reading-Course 

 Lesson). The wax is in the top recep- 

 tacle, standing in a dish or pail of water. 

 In the bottom is a lamp to supply the 

 heat. 



Top-working trees by means of the cleft- 

 graft. FIG. 175. Pot for heating 

 /^i - i j grafting-wax. 



Cleft-grafting is employed not so 



much to multiply the plant as to change a tree from one 

 variety to another. It is the form of grafting used in old 

 apple and pear orchards, and it may be employed on plum 

 and many other trees. The top-grafting of large trees is an 

 important operation, and many men make it a business. 

 These men usually charge by the stub and warrant, the 

 warrant meaning that one cion of the stub must be alive at 

 counting time in late summer. A grafter in good "setting" 

 can graft from 400 to 800 stubs a day and wax them himself. 

 Much depends on the size of the trees, their shape and the 

 amount of pruning before the grafter can work in them 

 handily. Every man who owns an orchard of any extent 

 should be able to do his own grafting. 



An important consideration in the top-grafting of an old 



