CHAPTER XII 

 CARE OF TOP-WORKED TREES 



205. Availability of top-working.* — "In orchard (less 

 m nursery) practice unsatisfactory trees are top-worked, 

 also trees of strong growth are used as bodies for poor 

 straggling growers and those that have trunk weakness. 

 Thus any desired variety may be worked on trees by the 

 individual orchardist. The method is of practically uni- 

 versal utility, because nearly every fruit grower is sure 

 to have at least some trees that do not please him, but 

 which are too good to destroy — seedlings, trees untrue to 

 name, shy bearers, others in which graft or bud has failed 

 but a sucker developed, and so on. Any desired number 

 of varieties may be worked upon the same tree, the num- 

 ber being restricted only by the available branches or 

 stocks." 



206. Top-working finds its widest application in new 

 fruit districts where the promiscuous variety growing of 

 the home orchard or the speculative style of planting is 

 giving place to the commercial planting of a few varie- 

 ties specially adapted to the district. In other words, 

 experimental planting is being replaced by business 

 planting. When this period arrives there may be thou- 

 sands of undesirable or. from a business standpoint, less 

 desirable varieties in this district — trees too good to de- 

 stroy, yet not profitable enough because their fruit is not 

 in demand, is too sparsely borne or for some other reason. 

 Moreover, if properly top-worked and handled they may 

 be made to yield profitable crops several years before 

 nursery trees would come into bearing. Sometimes top- 

 worked trees produce a fairly good crop four years from 

 the operation. 



* Kains Plant Propagation, Page 23H. 



274 



