63 



The grafting should be done in late winter or early spring, 

 about February and March, although expert grafters are 

 successful if the work is not done until planting-out time. If 

 the work is to be done in a warm room, only a small supply 

 of materials should be brought in at a time or else some means 

 must be employed to prevent drying out of both the materials 

 and the finished grafts. 



Preparation of the Stock. — In preparing the stock to receive 

 the scion proceed as f oIIoms : Cut off the top from the seedling 



Fig. 3. — Tongue grafting: a, the stock prepared to receive the scion; &, the 

 scion cut to fit the stock; c, the union of the finished graft, showing the 

 interlocking of the tongues of stock and scion and the method of wrap- 

 ping with string. 



stock, use a sharp knife and begin the cut at the crown, i.e., 

 soil line. The cut should be an upward sloping one with a 

 smooth, even surface about if inches long. Set the knife on 

 the sloping surface about one-fourth inch from the upper end 

 and cut the tongue. The tongue is made by cutting back 

 toward the base of the sloping cut to a distance of about 1 



