TOP-GRAFTING OLD APPLE TEEES. 53 



cut out before grafting than afterward ; for after the 

 grafting is done, and so much of the top removed, 

 these limbs grow rapidly and soon sliow a marked increase 

 in diameter. So much of the tree top will be removed 

 in grafting, that the unnecessary limbs should not be cut 

 away for two or three years or more, if they are large. 

 It is not always an easy matter to prune a grafted tree 

 properly. The ungrafted limbs must be gradually re- 

 moved, and the grafts themselves must be trained. The 

 ungrafted limbs should be annually cut away in about 

 the extent to which the grafts grow, or a little more. All 

 suckers should be pulled off as they form during the sea- 

 son, unless there is noticed a tendency to sun-scald. The 

 suckers may then be needed to shade the trunk and 

 branches. I have known of a few cases in which nearly 

 all the ungrafted branches were taken off the second 

 year, without apparent injury to the tree, but I have 

 known of many more cases in which such treatment has 

 been ruinous. Improper pruning of top-grafted trees 

 often results in an abundance of flat-headed borers. 

 When the tree is weakened, borers attack it. I have 

 several times observed the gradual weakening and final 

 death of large trees which were severely top-grafted. I 

 have so often seen ill results follow that I wish to dis- 

 courage the practice, unless all conditions are favorable. 

 I have often grafted old trees when I was confident that 

 they could never resist the operation, although their 

 owners would not believe it until too late. If the tree is 

 not perceptibly lessened in vigor, it is at least probable 

 that it will be made a sprawling and unsatisfactory 

 object. 



