68 Pecan-Growing 



should be allowed to grow. They will nourish the tree and 

 protect the cions from the wind to a great extent, but will 

 reduce their growth considerably. 



WMp-grafting. 



Whip-grafting is practiced only on young nursery trees. 

 The stock should be from one to three years old and from one- 

 fourth to one inch in diameter. Until the last few years, 

 the whip-graft was employed extensively by nurserymen east 

 of the Mississippi River. It is now giving way to the patch- 

 bud. The whip-graft method seems to give best results in 

 moist sections. 



The whip-graft can be made during December, January 

 and February. The best results are generally secured just 

 before growth starts in the spring. The cions may be taken 

 fresh from the tree. They should be of the last year's growth 

 and of straight clean wood, and thoroughly dormant when 

 inserted. 



The young seedlings in the nursery row are barred off with 

 a turning plow and the soil pulled back with a hoe so as to 

 expose from two to three inches of the crown of the trees. 

 A cloth is drawn around the stock in order to remove all 

 dirt and trash. The top is removed with a sharp knife at a 

 point from one to three inches below the surface, depending 

 on the smoothness of the stock. The cut should be upwards, 

 and the surface about three times as long as the diameter 

 of the stock. The knife blade should be placed about one-third 

 of the distance from the top point and the slit made down- 

 ward and inward about one and one-half inches in length. 

 The cions should be about the size of a lead pencil, from four 

 to six inches long, and should contain from two to four buds. 



