COMMUNITY STUDIES 



389 



COMMUNITY STUDIES 



1. Visit a nursery during February. Inspect the seedlings used for 

 propagation. Note differences in size, length of root, and other charac- 

 ters of the seedlings. 



Inspect cions used, and watch carefully the operation of root grafting. 



2. Visit a nursery in August or early September. Watch the opera- 

 tion of shield budding. Inspect bud sticks and mote especially the 

 apparent vitality of the buds. 



Are buds taken from bearing trees? 



What precautions are taken to keep varieties from becoming mixed 

 in the nursery rows? 



Inspect root-grafted and shield-budded trees that have grown for a 

 season in the nursery. 



Note varietal differences in rate of growth and size. 



Secure from the nurseryman information regarding the stocks used 

 for the various fruits and the source from which they are obtained. 



3. In late September, inspect shield-budded trees again. Note that 

 the buds have set and the raffia has been cut. Why? Have the buda 

 started to grow? What proportion of buds have ^^taken"? Does the 

 proportion vary for the different fruits? 



What proportion of budded trees make salable trees of first grade? 



4. Visit some growers who have employed cleft grafting and whip 

 grafting to work over trees. Under what conditions is each method 

 employed? Note the distribution of the grafts through the trees. How 

 long before the grafts begin to bear commercial crops? 



5. Inspect some trees that have been bridge grafted, and note the pro- 

 cedure in detail. What proportion of the trees have lived and grown? 

 What proportion of the grafts that were set? Are the bridge-grafted 

 trees smaller in size than those not bridge grafted? 



Find out from the fruit grower the time and expense involved in 

 doing the work, and ask him for an estimate of the value of the trees 

 that he has saved. 



6. Perform, first in the laboratory and then on outdoor specimens, as 

 many as possible of the operations described in this chapter. Prune 

 and care for the grafts on the outdoor trees for a series of years. 



7. Make some of the grafting preparations, including soft wax, and 

 prepare the waxed cord. 



