GRAFTING 71 



are all to be covered at once with white lead paint 

 for the larger wounds. Paraffin is best for the 

 smaller ones in the author's experience. When the 

 limbs of a tree are cut back in the winter preparatory 

 for spring grafting if the rough sawed ends are 

 trimmed neatly with a sharp knife and then covered 

 with paraffin they remain brightly alive clear to the 

 tip and are ready to receive end grafts. 



The question as to top-working a tree or cutting 

 it down completely and then grafting the lively 

 shoots springing from the stump is one which re- 

 quires further experimentation. With the chestnut 

 it has been worked out successfully but only in a lim- 

 ited way as yet with other trees. Very old trees if 

 cut down are not likely to send up new shoots from 

 the roots. They are discouraged by failure in busi- 

 ness late in life. Young and vigorous trees, not 

 more than a foot in diameter, may be cut down in 

 the winter time in the expectation of their sending 

 up a glorious new lot of shoots. When grafting 

 these sprouts we must remember that a very large 

 root system must be nourished. It is inadvisable to 

 subject the entire series of shoots to grafting. It 

 is better to graft only one or two shoots from the 

 stump and then allow natural shoots upon the op- 

 posite side of the stump to grow rapidly and to 

 take charge of the nurture of the root system until 

 the grafted shoots have themselves grown to dimen- 

 sions which will allow us to cut out natural shoots 

 one after another for two or three years or more. 

 In this way a good balance between top and root 



