86 NUT GROWING 



method of grafting. Previous to the development of 

 this method all of the author's immediate grafting 

 in summer was a complete failure. 



Bud grafting on the whole is preferable to scion 

 grafting after the middle of July in the latitude of 

 New York. The buds usually remain dormant and 

 do not start off into growth until the following 

 spring, thus averting the danger of winter-killing of 

 new sappy shoots. 



Scion grafts which are inserted in February and 

 March make tardy start and they are outgrown by 

 May grafts placed upon stock of the same sort, ac- 

 cording to the author's experience to date. This ob- 

 servation may not hold good with further experi- 

 mentation. 



If we graft a tree in the spring at the time when 

 sap is running most freely, the buds of the scion 

 will sometimes start into activity purely from the 

 supply of water in the sap before wound repair has 

 taken place and before proper nourishment from 

 metabolized food can be carried to the buds. Under 

 such circumstances the starting buds will die, but by 

 that time the free flow of sap in the tree will prob- 

 ably have ceased and a second grafting may be suc- 

 cessful a few days later. When sap is running very 

 freely the lower scions in a top-worked tree are likely 

 to shoot first with a water start. The top scions may 

 do better. Later in the season the topmost scions 

 often start first and grow most thriftily. When sap 

 is running freely the bark of many trees is seriously 

 injured by the soles of boots or shoes of men en- 



