194 



TOP-GRAFTING OLD TREES, 



branches than tlie old one. The new top, therefore, 

 is often a difficult one in which to secure a foothold 

 in pruning and picking times. 



There are two opposing methods of re-shaping the 

 top of an old tree. The older one grafts a few 

 large limbs low down in the head, for the purpose 

 of retaining the original height of top. As I have 

 seen it practiced by old grafters, six or eight limbs 

 of 20-year old trees are grafted where they are 

 from three to five inches in diameter, and these 

 grafters usually prefer to place the scions within 



nourishment away from it. The wood of old por- 

 tions is so rigid, also, that small scions are apt to 

 be squeezed to death. 



The second or newer system aims to graft many 

 and small limbs, and by so doing it avoids all the 

 disadvantages of the old system. But unless prop- 

 erly applied, it gives rise to the fault which the first 

 method seeks to avoid — it raises the new top too 

 high and makes long and pole-like branches. To ob- 

 viate this difficulty, great attention is required. 



It is impossible to fully describe the best method 



Fig. I. — A 25-YEAK-ULu Apple Tree BtFoKE Top-Grafting. 



three or four inches of a crotch in order that the 

 remaining limb may " draw up the sap." There 

 are several vital objections to this old system : i. 

 It removes too much of the tree, for practically the 

 whole top is cut away. 2. The wounds are so 

 large that decay is likely to set in before they 

 heal ; in fact, it is rather the exception if they heal 

 well. 3. Scions are much less apt to live than when 

 inserted in small and younger limbs. This is 

 particularly true when the scions are inserted near 

 a crotch, for the remaining limb makes rapid 

 growth after its twin is removed, and instead of 

 "drawing up the sap" to the scion, it draws 



of shaping the top, for each tree needs particular 

 treatment. The illustrations, made from photo- 

 graphs, illustrate the practice. Fig. i shows a 

 neglected tree twenty-five years old before opera- 

 tions ai-e begun, while Fig. 2 shows the same tree 

 after the grafting is done. There are no ' ' stubs " — 

 as the grafted extremities are called — over inch 

 in diameter, and many of them are an inch or less. 

 It will be noticed that the main stubs are approxi- 

 mately equi-distant from the trunk. This arrange- 

 ment insures a rounded and symmetrical top, close- 

 ly approaching the form of the original tree. 



In order to fill up somewhat the lower part of the 



