10 
COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION 
for cions. The statement sometimes made that watersprouts never 
produce fruit is erroneous. 
Cion-wood should be gathered in the fall, preferably as soon as 
the leaves have fallen, and stored until spring. The object is not to 
avoid winter injury, as some think, but to keep the cion- in a dor¬ 
mant condition. Few realize that buds complete the resting period 
early in the winter and may, under favorable conditions, begin to 
swell before the first of January. While the unobserving man may 
say there is no difference in the buds of the young growth in early 
December and in February there may be quite a marked difference 
in some climates. Our open winters in the Middle West are especi¬ 
ally liable to start early growth. The object of keeping the cions 
dormant is to allow time for a partial union before the buds are 
started into growth by the warm days of the grafting season. Cions 
with buds well swollen often throw leaf surface before a sufficiently 
strong union has been made to support them. The result is the ex¬ 
haustion of the stored-up food supply and moisture of the cion to a 
point which may cause its death. 
The cions 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 fluctuating 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. 
GROWING THE TOP 
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 cions is only the first step in working over the 
tree. Should we stop here, a most miserable failure or, at least, a 
poor top would be the result. Many a good catch is ruined by neglect¬ 
ing the pruning the first two seasons. During the first season the 
grafts should make a very rank growth and they will require some 
pinching back to save them from becoming top-heavy and conse¬ 
quently 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, pinch¬ 
ing 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 cion, it is well to remove all 
but one to avoid crowding. As a rule the growth from the lower 
