MKTIIODS 01" CUAFTIXC. 



241 



inch, so the healing nui}' 1>e cumi)lcted in a single season, 

 thus lessening the chances of deca}'. In such cases onl)- 

 one cion is needed. \\ hen large stocks are used it may 

 be necessar}' to keep the cleft wedged apart so as not to 

 squeeze the cion too much. Such wedges should be 

 I)laced in the heart wood and cut off even with the face 

 of the stub. 



313. Grafting irons are of two general forms ; one sug- 

 gesting a sjckle with its point reversed and thickened to 

 form a four or five-inch wedge, the 

 other a straight shank with blade on 

 one side and the wide wedge at the 

 end on the other. (Fig. 194.) The 

 former, usually homemade, is more 

 of a splitting tool, useful for straight- 

 grained wood; the latter, si^ild by 

 nursery and seed houses, rather a 

 cutting tool suitable for gnarly 

 stocks. 



In waxing, time may be saved in 

 cold weather if the wax is kept warm 

 and soft in hot water. A cabinetmaker's glue 

 pot is very handy for liquid waxes to be brushed 

 on wounds. In weather wann enough to keep 

 wax fairly soft, application with the hands is to be pre- 

 ferred, since every crevice can thus be sureh^ filled. To 

 prevent wax from sticking to the skin grease the hands 

 well. 



Solid wax is best applied when worked out by the 

 hands into ribbons of, say, one-eighth inch thick. Start- 

 ing at the top of the cion, the ribbon is pressed against 

 and into the crack down the side of the stub, less being 

 needed below than abo^'e. Next a ribbon is wound 

 around the point where stock and cion join and pressed 

 down well. The second cion is similarly treated. 

 Finally the parts of the stub still exposed are covered 

 with a spoon-shaped piece of wax, care being taken to 



FIG. 196— NEWLY 

 SPROUTED CLEFT GRAFT 

 Note upward trend of twigs. 



