170 



NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



Apples of all kinds are nearly enough related to inter- 

 graft, so that we might have as many different kinds of 

 apples on one tree as the tree has branches; and this 

 makes not only an interesting tree, but a most serviceable 



one where a child has no 

 room for more. 



For grafting we need 

 a very sharp knife, cloth 

 bands or raffia to tie with, 

 and grafting wax.^ The 

 stock is the stem, into 

 which we set the graft. 

 This we already have in 

 the little yearling apple 

 tree. The scion is the 

 shoot, from which we wish 

 to prepare our graft. The 

 graft is a scion or part of 

 a scion, a little stem carry- 

 ing a bud or two, that 

 we wish to propagate. 

 Fig. 67 shows all these 

 in their proper relations. 

 Scions are prepared, 

 somewhat like grape cut- 

 tings, by removing vigor- 

 ous shoots of the previous season's growth at any time 

 before they begin to start in the spring and storing in a 



1 Grafting wax may be prepared by melting togetlier four parts resin, two 

 parts beeswax, and one part tallow. It should be used to cover every part 

 of the cut surface around a graft to keep out the air and prevent drying. 



Various Methods of Whip 

 Grafting 

 a, plain whip graft; i, whip-tongue graft; 

 c and d^ modifications which give large 

 contact surfaces, suggested to the author 

 by Jackson Dawson 



