THE CHINESE JUJUBE 9 



CUTTINGS 



Little or no success has resulted from repeated attempts to root any 

 type of cutting taken from the portion of the plant above ground. 

 When grafted plants are removed from the nursery a plant will 

 occasionally be found in which the lower end of the scion has taken 

 root. 



Cuttings made by clipping the lower ends of the roots from the 

 stock plants used for bench grafts have given a good percentage of 

 plants of sufficient size to graft. Pieces of roots 4 to 6 inches in 

 length and having a diameter of not less than three-sixteenths of an 

 inch have produced good plants the first season, and these plants 

 have good root systems. By the use of root cuttings the supply of 

 stocks can be increased where seeds are not available. This method 

 might also be employed to increase the supply of large-fruited varie- 

 ties after they have once been rooted by layering or by the rooting of 

 scions. 



BUDDING 



Propagating the jujube by budding has not as yet given very 

 satisfactory results. The wood is very hard and the bark thin, 

 making budding a difficult matter. The results of budding in 

 August or September have been almost entirely negative. Spring 

 budding has been more successful, but the percentage of trees 

 secured by this method has been small. 



GRAFTING 



The most successful method of propagating the jujube has been 

 by the ordinary whipgraft, although good results have been obtained 

 both by bench and field grafting. While field grafting is somewhat 

 slower than bench grafting, a better stand is obtained with less 

 expense when one considers that digging and replanting are necessary 

 in the latter case. When bench grafting is preferred, the plants can 

 be dug in the fall and heeled in. Scion wood not smaller in diameter 

 than that of a lead pencil (fig. 4, a) should be selected from the past 

 season's growth at the time the grafting is done. The small side 

 branches (fig. 4, b) which bear leafy deciduous branches are not suit- 

 able for scions. The grafting should be done 1 to 2 months before 

 the plants are to be put in the nursery. After the graft has been 

 made it should be carefully tied with raffia, waxed, and allowed to 

 callus in damp shingle tow or moss at a temperature around 50° F. 

 In about 3 to 8 weeks the callusing will have progressed sufficiently 

 to allow the plants to be set out in the nursery. When the weather 

 is suitable the plants should be lined out in nursery rows, and the 

 soil should be heaped up so that the scion is covered 1 to iy 2 inches. 

 This will prevent the graft drying out, a precaution absolutely 

 essential to success. 



When the grafting is done in the field the scion wood can be cut at 

 the same time, even though the trees are beginning to grow, for the 

 bud that produces the new plant is a dormant one that does not start 

 growth unless the short branch above it is cut off, as is the case in 

 preparing the scion. As soon as the stock is full of sap and beams 

 to push, the soil should be removed from around its base to allow 

 sufficient room to whipgraft the scion on it at a point several inches 



