120 



CRAFTAGE. 



Holt's g-ta/ler. 



liandle of tlie knife. It is important that the wedge stand 



well away from the curved blade in the V;nife shown in 



Fig. 120, else it cannot be 



driven into the stub. In the 



picture, it is too close to the 



blade. In Fig. 121 — made 



from the .stvle of ^,^^ _ 



knife most com- '^^^l,..,^t'J','i 

 monly seen in the 

 market— the wedge is too short for 

 most efticient service. 



There are various devices for 

 facilitating the operaticjn of cleft- 

 grafting, but none of them have become generally popu- 

 lar. One of the best is Hoit's device (Fig. 122), which 

 cuts a slot into the side of the stub. The machine is he'd 

 in place by a trigger or clamp working in 

 notches on the under side of the frame. 

 The upper handle is then thrown over to 

 the right, forcing the knife into the stub. 

 This is a Californian dex'ice. A \'ery 

 good grafting-knife for small stocks or 

 trees in nursery row is shown in Fig. 

 123. This is the Thomas knife. The 

 larger arm is made entirely of wood. 

 At its upper end is a grooved portion, 

 into which the blade closes. This blade 

 can be made from the blade of a steel 

 case-knii'e, and it should be about 2% 

 inches long. It is secured to an iron 

 handle. The essential feature of this 

 implement is the draw cut, «iiich is 

 secured by setting the blades and the 

 pix'Ot in just the jiosition shown in the 

 figure. The stock is cut oK by the 

 , . shears, and the cleft is then made bv 



12J. I noiiias' ^rafiuig- 



kinfe. turning the shears up and making a 



