GRAFTING 67 



have been active in cell work are not in as good con- 

 dition as those which have been allowed to become 

 a little drier than normal; either extreme is to be 

 avoided, however. 



Scions which are carried about the field at the 

 time of grafting may be wrapped in any sort of 

 waterproofed material along with a very little damp 

 moss. If this is not done they -will dry out seriously 

 in the course of a few hours' exposure to the air 

 on a warm or windy day with high barometer. One 

 of my acquaintances who grafts a very large num- 

 ber of chestnut trees every year simply places his 

 bundles of scions in an eighty-pound milk can and 

 puts on the cover, storing the milk can in a cool 

 place where alternate freezing and thawing would be 

 avoided. Evaporation of moisture does not take place 

 readily, and water, he says, does not get into a milk 

 can used for scions alone. I have sometimes kept 

 small lots of scions for a couple of months in the 

 springtime in an ordinary glass jar with a loose 

 cover, not hermetically sealed. Dip the cut ends of 

 the scions in melted paraffin before putting scions in 

 storage of any sort. When using scions prepared in 

 this way I have frequently found bright green cam- 

 bium layer clear down to the wax and a collar of 

 callus protruding. Scions not so protected might 

 have an inch or more of discolored wood at the cut 

 end when they were taken out in the springtime. 



On my country property at Stamford the ice house 

 has been a convenient place for storing scions of the 

 customary foot or two in length, up to large branches 



