The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1902-12-26
Grafting.

Few understand how simple it is,
and often send for some professional, -
and then do not have the work done
as successfully as with little instruc-
tiOn they could do it themselves. For
tools, you will want a fine saw, a keen
knife, a hammer and small, hard
wood wedge. Apples must be grated
to apples, pears to pears or thorns, all
kinds of plums or prunes to plum or
peach stock. Cut your scions at once
from the varieties of fruit trees YOU
wish to propagate. Lay them away
in a cool, moist place and they will
keep for many weeks. If convenient
cut scions of last years growth, for
they work easier than older wood,
though older wood grows equally well.
If the trees to be grated are quite
small, say an inch or less in diameter,
with spade carefully dig away the
earth around the body of the tree and
with your saw cut it off a couple of
inches below the surface. Lay the
edge of your knife across the center of
this little stub, and with blow of the
hammer split it down a couple of
inches. Drive your little wedge into
this split till you open 1t about an
eighth of an inch. The wedge must
be driven far enough to one side to
leave at least the size of the scion free.
Cut off a scion three or four inches
long. Pare down two sides of the
butt end of this, making of it wedge
that will fit the split stub. Crowd it
into the split so that the cut edge of
the bark or the outer side of the scion
meets the bark of little stub or stock, as
it is called; remove the wedge carefully
and the stock holds the scion as in a
wise. Carefully fill in mellow earth
till stock and scion, except the last bud,
are covered. If your work is even half
way bunglingly done, ninety-nine out
of hundred will grow. But remem-
Der the song of the bobolink, "Let it
be, let it be, let it be-"
In top grating, first cut the top en-
tirely out of the tree, cutting off the
limbs where they are about two inches
in diameter Split the ends of these
stubs and insert two gratis. If one
dies the other may live. Cover the ex-
posed end with grating wax, and the
work is done. | will give you my
method of making wax and applying
it, Remember, the only office of graft
ing wax is to seal over the exposed
wood and keep it from drying out.
Melt some resin in a kettle. When
melted add little tallow or lard or lin
seed oil, anything to soften it. 0cca-
sionally take out a little and cool it.
When cold il should he hard but must
not be brittle. If brittle, add more tai
low; # soft, add more resin. Make a
swab by tying some cotton rags on a
stick. Now take your kettle of melted
wax (hot enough to blister if it should
touch your hand and with your swab
seal up youe gratis in their new posi-
tons. Fill every crevice. Touch the
ends of the scions where cut. The hot
wax makes perfect joints, and your
scions will grow.
In reading the above am aware that
| have broken nearly every rule of sci
lpntitic grating, but have worked hy
this method for more than twenty
years and have yet to find any one who
could induce a larger per cent of seions
TO grow. There is Just this amount Of
science in grating: The raw bark OF
the scion must be held tight against
/ the raw bark of the stock aud prevent.
ed from drying out, till nature estab-
7 fishes a circulation between the two.
II you have no wax use longer sciOns,
and make a mud pie and plaster your