124 



GRAFTAGE. 



approximately equai distances from the center of the tree ; 

 and then, to prevent the occurrence oi long and pole-like 



branches, various minor 

 side -branches should be 

 grafted. These will serve 

 to fill out the new top and 

 to afford footholds for prun- 

 ers and pickers. Fig. 127 is 

 a good illustration of an old 

 tree just top-grafted. Many 

 stubs should be set, and at 

 least all the prominent 

 branches should be grafted if the 

 tree has been well-trained. It is 

 better to have too 

 many stubs and to be 

 obliged to cut out 

 some of them in after 

 years, than to have 

 too few. Small trees, 

 with a central axis 

 (such as have been 

 set only two or three 

 years) may be cut off 

 bodily, as at R in Fig. 

 128 ; such trees can 

 usually be changed 

 over in one or two 

 years. In thick- 

 topped trees, care 

 must be exercised not 

 to cut out so much foliage the first year that the inner 

 branches will sunburn. All large branches which must be 

 sacrificed ought to be cut out when the grafting is done, 

 as they increase in diameter very rapidly after so much of 

 the top is removed. 

 A horizontal branch lying directly over or under another 



128. Stub for top-grafting a young tree. 



