Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-09-16
value OF knowing How to Graft,

Kvery farmers boy should learn how
to graft. Few occupations give more
. lsasure or greater reward. To con-
vsrt wild and thorny tree into one
b caring large and delicious fruit ia a
wonderful and fascinating process.
Grating need not be confined to fruit
trees. Ornamental trees and shrubs
which are nearly related TO each other
m ay be grated. Several kinds of roses
may be grown on the same bush, and
differently colored lilacs may be MIXED
on the same stalk. Grating is an easy
art to acquire. Simply making the
scions live is but part OF the opera
ton on fruit trees, however. One must
plan for the future top Of the tree. He
must graft such limbs as should make
permanent factors in the top he is
building; and while he should avoid graft
ing too many limbs, he should likewise
avoid grating too few. In either ex-
treme too much cutting for the good of
the tree will have to be done, If too few
limbs are grated it will be necessary to
cut too many branches off entirely dur
ing the process of grating. Ii too many
limbs are grated it will be necessary to
cut many OF them out in a few years TO
prevent orowding. 1t must be remem
bered that q grated branch will occupy
more room than natural branch, for
tho scions branch and bush out from the
points Of their insertion. How many
limbs and which ones to graft must be
learned by experience and judgment.
The kind Of grating most likely to be
xhaf So. Ia that l.
cleft grating. The process is a
simple one. Saw OF limb to
be grated where it is an inch
or less In diameter, trim the edges of
the ''stub" smooth. and split it with a
large knife or cleaver made for the pur-
pose, The cleft should not be more
than four inches deep at the most. A
wedge is now inserted in the center of
the cleft and scion is set on each side Of
the stub. The scions are made of twigs
OF last years growth. They should be
cut before the trees show any signs of
starting in the spring. When the scion
10 prepared ready for set ing. it should
contain about three buds. The lever
end Of the scion is cut wedge.shaped by
slicing off each side. On one side Of
snm Wcukc-snhpeu portloni anu midway
between its top and bottom, should be
left one Of the buds. When the scion is
set the bud will be deep down in the
side Of the cleft in the Sub and will be
covered with wax, but, being nearer the
source Of nourishment, will be the most
apt Of any buds to grow, and wilIreadily
push through the wax. The scion is set
into the cleft by exercising great care
that the inner surface Of the bark on the
scion exactly matches the inner surface
of the bark on the stub. A line between
the bark aud the wood may be observed
This line on the scion, in other words.
should match this line on the stub. Wax
the whole over carefully and Thoroughly
Do not leave any crack exposed. Wax
which is pretty hard and which must be
worked aud applied with the hands is
commonly best. We have given several
good recipes for grating wax. We
would recommend that gaufting be not
confined to the orchard, Experiment
try pears or apples on wild crabs or haw.
thornes. One must not look for success
on trees much different from the scions,
but there is room for experimenting and
more light is needed. Cult
GATOR