TOP-GRAFTING OLD APPLE TREES. 53 
cut out before grafting than afterward; for after the 
grafting is done, and so much of the top removed, 
these limbs grow rapidly and soon show a marked increase 
in diameter. So much of the tree top will be removed 
in grafting, that the unnccessary limbs should not be cut 
away for two or three years or more, if they are large. 
It is not always an easy matter to prune a grafted tree 
properly. The ungrafted limbs must be gradually re- 
moved, and the grafts themselves must be trained. The 
ungrafted limbs should be annually cut away in about 
the extent to which the grafts grow, or a little more. All 
suckers should be pulled off as they form during the sea- 
son, unless there is noticed a tendency to sun-scald. The 
suckers may then be needed to shade the trunk and 
branches. I have known of a few cases in which nearly 
all the ungrafted branches were taken off the second 
year, without apparent injury to the tree, but I have 
known of many more cases in which such treatment has 
been ruinous. Improper pruning of top-grafted trees 
often results in an abundance of flat-headed borers. 
When the tree is weakened, borers attack it. -I have 
several times observed the gradual weakening and final 
death of large trees which were severely top-grafted. I 
have so often seen ill results follow that I wish to dis- 
courage the practice, unless all conditions are favorable. 
I have often grafted old trees when I was confident that 
they could never resist the operation, although their 
owners would not believe it until too late. If the tree is 
not perceptibly lessened in vigor, it is at least probable 
that it will be made a sprawling and unsatisfactory 
object. 
