chance  of  Winter  injury  at  the  base 
of  the  larger  limbs  and  at  the  base  of 
the  trunk,  which  may  happen  as  a  re¬ 
sult  of  cutting  away  too  much  of  the 
tree  at  one  time.  In  working  over 
trees  only  two  or  three  years  of  age 
cleft-grafting  at  any  desired  height  on 
the  trunk  may  be  employed,  or  the 
variety  may  be  changed  by  whip-graft¬ 
ing  in  the  main  branches.  When  one 
wishes  to  grow  the  Tompkins  King  it 
should  always'  be  top-worked  on  some 
hardy  stock',  “such  as  Tolman  Sweet, 
McIntosh  or  Northern  Spy,  to  avoid 
collar  rot,  to  which  the  King  is  very 
susceptible. 
WHY  THE 
ING?— Many 
appointments 
attributed  to 
FAILURES  IN  GRAFT- 
of  the  failures  and  dis- 
in  top-working  may  be 
various  causes.  The 
scion  wood  may  have  become  dried  out, 
or  it  may  not  have  been  kept  dormant. 
When  the  scions  are  cut  they  should 
be  put  into  moist  (not  wet)  sand  or 
sawdust,  and  kept  in  a  dormant  con¬ 
dition  in  a  cool  cellar  until  ready  for 
use.  Although  there  is  no  objection  to 
cutting  scions  in  the  Fall  or  early  Winter,  if  they 
are  properly  stored,  it  is  probable  nature  will  take 
as  good  or  better  care  Of  them  if  they  are  left  on  the 
tree  until  a  month  before  the  time 
grafting  should  be  done.  Scion  wood 
for  top-working  should  be  good  vigorous 
terminal  growths  taken  from  known 
bearing  trees.  Water  sprouts  or  suckers 
may  be  used  in  an  emergency,  but 
usually  on  these  the  buds  are  not  as 
well  developed,  and  the  wood  is  often 
too  large  to  work  to  good  advantage. 
PROPER  CONTACT.— Many  scions 
do  not  grow  because  the  cambium  or 
growing  tissue  of  the  scion  is  not  set 
so  that  it  comes  in  contact  with  this 
same  tissue  on  the  stock.  The  cam¬ 
bium  is  a  single  thin  layer  of  cells 
between  the  bark  and  wood,  and  unless 
these  tissues  on  scions  and  stock  come 
in  contact  there  cannot  be  any  union 
and  growth  of  the  scion.  In  grafting 
a  limb  3  or  4  inches  in  diameter  the 
bark  may  be  an  eighth  of  an  inch 
thick,  so  that  it  becomes  necessary  to 
set  the  scion  in  from  the  outside  of 
the  bark  nearly  an  eighth  of  an  inch 
to  insure  contact  of  the  growing  tis¬ 
sues.  Scions  are  often  set  in  a  slant¬ 
ing  position  to  insure  the  coming  to¬ 
gether  of  the  growing  tissues  at  one 
point.  When  set  in  this  way  they  will 
probably  touch  each  other  if  the  wood 
in  which  the  cleft  is  made  is  very 
straight-grained,  otherwise  they  may 
not.  One  will  usually  get  more  scions 
to  grow  if  greater  care  is  taken,  and 
if  they  are  set  straight  so  that  the 
cambium  tissues  unite  all  the  way 
down  the  cleft.  In  cutting  the  wedge  on  the  scion 
it  is  necessary  that  one  side  be  a  little  thicker  than 
the  other  in  order  that  the  growing  tissues  come  in 
will  be  some  of  the  sap  in  the  tree.  It 
may  be  difficult  to  get  the  ordinary 
hard  wax  to  stick  and  work  to  advan¬ 
tage.  A  soft  wax  will  be  found  more 
satisfactory,  and  this  may  be  made, 
melting  together  5  lbs.  of  crushed 
resin,  1  lb.  of  beeswax  and  a  half  pint 
of  raw  linseed  oil.  Three-fourths  of 
a  pound  of  paraffin  may  be  substituted 
for  beeswax  with  good  results.  When 
this  mixture  is  allowed  to  cool  slightly 
half  a  pound  of  powdered  charcoal  is 
stirred  into  it  until  the  mixture  is 
smooth  and  free  from  lumps.  A  graft¬ 
ing  pot,  or  some  receptacle  for  keeping 
the  wax  melted,  is  necessary  when 
this  formula  is  used.  o.  w.  peck. 
T 
Grafting  Without  Splitting  Stock.  Fig.  107 
contact  when  placed  in  position  on  the  stock.  Some¬ 
times  scions  fail  to  grow  because  the  grafting  is 
done  entirely  too  early,  and  the  scions  dry  out  before 
Picking  Apples  in  January 
IIE  apples  shown  at  Fig.  106  are 
not  taken  from  a  box  or  barrel  to 
show  the  sin  of  poor  packing  or  false 
branding.  They  represent  a  crop  grown 
in  Maryland  under  abnormal  conditions. 
Mr.  John  W.  Adkins,  who  lives  in 
Wicomico  Co.,  Md.,  on  a  farm  curiously 
named  "Neighbors  Wonder,”  sent  us  these  apples 
with  the  following  note  : 
All  of  us  always  look  forward  each  week  for  the 
coming  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  and  consider 
it  a’ great  institution.  I  wish  you  every 
success. 
I  send  you  under  separate  cover  a 
box  of  apples.  Now  I  do  not  send  them 
to  compete  with  Hope  Farm  apples,  but 
as  a  novelty.  The  trees  bloomed  in 
September,  and  I  picked  them  on  Jan¬ 
uary  0,  1923.  It  is  something  T  never 
saw  before,  and  I  just  wanted  you  to 
see  them.  The  box  contains  100  apples. 
JOHN  W.  ADKINS. 
The  box  was  a  small  pasteboard  af¬ 
fair.  It.  cannot  be  said  that  these  Jan¬ 
uary  apples  are  noted  for  their  flavor. 
Barnyards  of  High  and  Low  Degree 
No  matter  where  we  may  wander  all  barnyards  seem  to  be  alike — just  common  barn¬ 
yards  of  low  degree.  And  why?  The  answer  is  obvious  and  need  not  be  mentioned. 
Hut  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  have  a  nice,  respectable  yard,  even  if  it  is  attached  to  the 
barn  and  other  outbuildings.  One  should  take  pride  in  keeping  his  rear  premises  as 
neat  and  respectable  as  he  does  that  in  front  of  his  house.  Of  course  there  need  not 
be  a  lawn  about  such  premises ;  no  need  of  having  something  that  too  much  energy 
will  be  required  to  keep  up  in  presentable  style.  Too  often  we  know  in  passing  a 
country  home  that  has  a  squalid  look  about  the  front  yard  that  the  outlook  in  the 
rear  is  even  worse — if  that  can  be  possible.  A  poorly  constructed  house  or  barn  can 
be  made  to  appear  pleasing  and  home-like  by  planting  trees  and  shrubs  about  it. 
The  old  homestead  barn  shown  in  the  picture  is  not  a  bad-looking  affair  when  viewed 
through  the  mass  of  foliage,  etc.,  shown  in  the  foreground.  It  is  of  a  place  now  in 
the  city  of  Oakland,  Cal.  Among  the  plants  and  trees  shown  are  bananas,  oranges, 
palms,  pears,  grapes  and  numerous  other  growing  vegetation.  w.  a.  phyal. 
Red  Roman  Apples 
SAMPLES  of  the  Red  Roman  apple 
were  sent  us  by  L.  J.  Clifton  of 
New  York.  We  understand  that  Mr. 
Clifton  found  this  apple  as  a  bud  sport 
on  a  Rome  Beauty  tree.  It;  comes  true 
from  the  bud.  The  picture  shows  the 
average  size.  It  is  dark  red  in  color,  a 
line  keeper,  and  makes  a  fine  apple  for 
baking,  though  not  of  high  quality  for 
eating  from  the  hand. 
Late-ripening  Grapes 
i 
but 
<  •  :  - 
'  '  >  V  ■  V 
Second  Crop  Apples  Gathered  in  January.  Fig.  106 
growth  starts;  or  in  very  late  work  the  buds  on  the 
scions  may  have  already  started  and  will  dry  up 
before  a  union  has  taken  place.  For  best  results, 
grafting  should  be  done  as  the  tips  of  the  first  buds 
in  the  tree  show  a  little  green,  a  few  days  previous 
to  the  time  of  application  of  the  delayed  dormant 
spray.  Many  of  the  failures  in  top-working  are  due 
to  not  waxing  the  cut  surfaces  soon  after  the  scions 
are  set.  If  scions  are  put  in  and  the  cut  surfaces 
allowed  to  remain  for  an  hour  or  two,  unwaxed,  it 
is’  very  probable  that  only  a  small  percentage  will 
grow.  It  is  very  essential  to  success  in  grafting 
that  all  cut  surfaces  be  waxed  soon  after  the  scions 
are  in  place. 
AS  GOOD  AS  CLEFT-GRAFTING.— Another  very 
satisfactory  and  simple  method  of  top-working  is 
illustrated  in  Fig.  107.  Here  the  scions  are  cut  as 
shown  in  the  diagram,  placed  on  the  bark  and  the 
outline  marked  with  the  point  of  a  knife.  The  bark 
is  then  cut  through  to  the  wood  and  the  portion  the 
size  of  the  scion  removed.  This  exposes  a  large 
surface  of  cambium  tissue.  The  scions  should  lie 
nailed  in  with  fine  wire  brads  about  an  inch  or  an 
inch  and  a  quarter  long.  Those  with  large  flat 
heads  are  more  desirable  than  the  finishing  nail 
type.  All  cut  surfaces  should  be  waxed  the  same 
as  in  cleft-grafting.  This  is  a  good  method  to  use, 
particularly  on  large  limbs.  One  is  relieved  of  the 
burden  of  carrying  a  grafting  chisel  and  mallet. 
GRAFTING-WAX. — If  grafting  is  being  done  at 
the  proper  time,  the  time  when  the  largest  per¬ 
centage  of  scions  may  be  expected  to  grow,  there 
for  home  use? 
have  about  15  varieties  of  grapes, 
with  the  exception  of  Catawba  they 
all  ripen  approximately  at  the  same  time, 
early  in  September  or  thereabout.  I 
would  like  to  set  out.  another  row  of 
plants  ripening  about  with  Catawba. 
IN  ould  you  suggest  a  few  good  varieties 
R.  A.  8. 
BROCTON,  a  delicious  white  grape,  Iona,  Goethe, 
Regal  and  Urbana,  red  s'orts  of  excellent  qual¬ 
ity  for  table  purposes,  ripen  with  Catawba  or  there¬ 
abouts.  The  later  is  considered  equal  to  the  Vini- 
fera.  Flame  Tokay,  in  quality.  It  possesses  excel¬ 
lent  keeping  qualities.  p.  e.  g. 
The  Red  Roman  Apple.  Fig.  100 
