Page 62 



BETTER FRUIT 



January 



GRAFTING AND TOP WORKING OF FRUIT TREES 



Continued from December Number 



The scions may be stored in sand in 

 a cool corner of the cellar or buried out 

 of doors. The main object is to keep 

 them cool and moist and away from fluc- 

 tuating temperatures. An excellent plan 

 is to bury them on the north side of a 

 building or in some spot shaded most 

 of the day. They need not be buried 

 deep, from twelve to eighteen inches 

 being sufficient in a well shaded spot. 



It would hardly seem wise to leave the 

 subject of top-working old trees without 

 some comment on future treatment of 

 the grafts. The setting of the scions is 

 only the first step in working over the 

 tree. Should we stop here, a most mis- 

 erable failure, or at least a poor top. 



would be the result. Many a good catch 

 is ruined by neglecting the pruning the 

 first two seasons. During the first sea- 

 son the grafts should make a very rank 

 growth, and they will require some 

 pinching back to save them from becom- 

 ing top-heavy, and consequently easily 

 blown out. The common practice is to 

 head-in the rapidly growing shoots 

 when they have attained a length of 

 from eighteen inches to two feet. This 

 forces branches from below, and if 

 growth becomes too heavy these may 

 need cutting back before the season is 

 over. This pruning insures stockiness 

 of the new growth and throws much of 

 the energies of the top into a good union. 



The growth of suckers or watersprouts 

 from the stock should not be allowed 

 to any great extent. Should the stubs 

 be exposed to the direct rays of the 

 sun it is well to leave some of this 

 growth, pinching it back to cause it to 

 form a dense shade. Unless needed for 

 protection it is well to rub the sprouts 

 off as fast as they appear. 



The following spring the system of 

 pruning should resemble very much that 

 of pruning young trees. The growth of 

 the grafts should be cut back to usually 

 not over eighteen inches in length. They 

 may be cut even shorter if the growth 

 has not been satisfactory. If all three 

 buds have started from a scion, it is 

 well to remove all but one to avoid 

 crowding. As a rule, the growth from 

 the lower bud will be the strongest, and 

 should be retained. Should the forma- 

 tion of the top allow it, a second growth 

 may be left. If the grafts have been 

 set in near the head of the trees they 

 will require some pruning in reference 

 to spreading the top. The general 

 tendency is for the lop-worked tree to 

 grow too compact. Cut the grafts back 

 to one of the strong outside branches 

 stai-ted by the first pinching back and it 

 will give them a start in the Tight direc- 

 tion. ^What shall we do where two scions 

 start m the same stub? Should the stub 

 be less than three inches in diameter one 

 should be removed at this time. Keep 

 the stronger, or if there should be little 

 (lifiference. the one best situated to help 

 make a good top. Cut the other off 

 close, even to removing a small corner 

 of the stump on that side; the wound will 

 heal better. Should the stub be over 

 three inches in diameter there is some 

 argument in favor of leaving the extra 

 graft another year. It will help callous 

 over the stub, and may be removed the 

 following spring, leaving a comparatively 

 small wound. If left longer, or until the 

 two grow together, the result is a bad 

 crotch and sometimes a pressure which 

 may actually split the stub. 



Subsequently pruning will consist in 

 such cutting back as will help form a 

 stocky and well shaped top. They will 

 demand the same attention as young 

 trees. Spread the top by pruning to out- 

 side buds or branches, and do not pay 

 too much attention to the small wood. 

 Some of the small branches may require 

 cutting out or clipping back, but, remem- 

 ber, in it we have the start for early 

 fruiting wood. 



There is a growing conviction among 

 the fruit growers that better results may 

 come from planting vigorous young 

 trees of some strong, growing kind to 

 be later worked over to the desired 

 variety. In the opening remarks on this 

 subject, mention was made of the desira- 

 bility of working weak growing kind on 

 stronger root systems, as well as top 

 working as a means of lessening loss 

 from attacks of root rots and woolly 

 aphis. The embarrassment of growing 

 the orchard to a bearing age only to find 

 some of the trees not true to name may 

 be avoided by this plan of starting the 

 young orchard. Then every fruit grower 

 has observed that few trees of the same 

 variety are alike in bearing habit and 



Engraved by Hicks-Chatten Engraving Company, Portland, Oregon 

 FERRY COUNTY, WASHINGTON, DISTRICT DISPLAY, NATIONAL APPLE SHOW, SPOKANE, 

 WASHINGTON, AND CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 1910 



Plwto by Frank rainier. StuL-une Eiigni-;ing by American hngravuig Company, Spokane 



FIRST PRIZE IRRIGATED DISTRICT DISPLAY FROM WALLA WALLA VALLEY, WASITIXX.- 

 TON, AT NATIONAL APPLE SHOW, SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 14-19, 1910, AND 

 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 4, 1910 



Continued on page 7S 



