Grafting Your Own Conifers— By John Dunbar, 



Rochester, 

 N. Y. 



THE ONLY WAY OF PERPETUATING COLORADO BLUE SPRUCE AND OTHER HIGHLY COLORED, DWARF OR PENDULOUS 

 EVERGREENS— INSURE RARE AND COSTLY SPECIMENS— PRESERVE NEW VARIETIES THAT ORIGINATE ON YOUR PLACE 



MOST people will never want to know 

 how to graft conifers, for the nursery- 

 man does it cheaper and better, but the public 

 should understand why the kinds it wants 

 the most cost so much. The bluest Colorado 

 spruces have to be grafted and grafting is 

 an expensive process. The pure species 

 can be cheaply raised by seeds; but the 



Cut a thin slice of bark from the cion to fit a corre- 

 sponding cut on the stock. (Spruce) 



The right way tu insert the cion 



Bind round tightly with prepared tape 



horticultural varieties can be perpetuated 

 and multiplied only by grafting. 



Moreover, a new variety is likely to origi- 

 nate on your place. You may find one tree 

 with silvery, golden or bluish foliage, more 

 compact habit, or pendulous branches. 

 Then you will suddenly take a great interest 

 in grafting conifers for it is the only way in 

 which you can preserve and multiply your 

 improved variety. 



Again, you may have some rare and costly 

 species that you are afraid you may lose. 

 The cheapest way to insure it is to raise a few 

 extra specimens. But you dare not wait for 

 seeds, and cuttings may not give the results. 

 For instance, I had only one small specimen 

 each of nut pine (Pinus edulis), Macedonian 

 pine (P. Pence), and lace bark pine (P. Bun- 

 geana), so I propagated them by grafting. If 

 they had been mature enough to bear seeds, 

 I would have raised seedlings instead. 



The actual grafting is done any time from 

 November until the beginning of March. 

 The stocks for grafting coniferous evergreens 

 must be selected according to natural affinities, 

 thus: the Norway spruce (Picea excelsa) for 

 all the spruces although the white spruce 

 (P. alba) may also be used; the white pine 

 (Pinus Strobus) for all the pines having five 

 leaves in a sheath; the bull pine (P. pon- 

 derosa) for those having three leaves in a 

 sheath; and the Scotch pine (P. sylvestris) 

 for the two-leaved pines. I have used the 

 Scotch pine (-two-leaved) as a stock for the 

 three-leaved pines, but it is not entirely 

 satisfactory. 



As a stock for all the firs the silver fir 

 {Abies Picea, known in the trade as A. 

 pectinata) is the most satisfactory; but, if 

 that is not obtainable, the balsam fir (.4. 

 balsamea) may be used, although it does not 

 show much virility away from its native 

 haunts, even in the Northwestern States. 



The seedling stocks which are to be used 

 for grafting should be about three-eighths of 

 an inch thick, which they will be in two or 

 three years from seeds sown in frames this fall 

 or next spring. Pot them up in early sum- 

 mer (June), and keep them well watered and 

 otherwise cared for, moving them into a cold 

 pit or cool greenhouse about November. 

 They may be lifted and potted in the fall, but 

 better results are obtained if the pots are 

 well filled with roots, as will be the case from 

 potting early in the summer. 



About three weeks before grafting is to 

 be done, the stocks are to be brought into 

 a gentle heat, say from 6o° to 65 , and as soon 

 as the buds begin to swell and the young 

 roots are pushing out of the sides of the balls, 

 the stocks are in fit condition. They are 

 prepared for the actual grafting just at the 

 time the work is to be done. 



About one or two inches above the base 

 of the stock, make a cross cut, just through 

 the bark, using a knife with a razor-like edge; 



193 



starting about one or two inches above this 

 make a downward cut until it meets the cross 

 cut, barely removing the bark, and making 

 a slight lip at the bottom, onto which the 

 cion can fit. Make a similar cut in one 

 side of the base of the cion, which is cut from 

 the young growth of the plant to be propa- 



Let remain in this condition until the union is 

 complete, about six months 



The stock ready for the cion. Note the tongue at the 

 bottom and the broad surface of exposed bark tissue 



