The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-01-20
WALDEN ANSWERS QUESTIONS

| flow from the stock to the scion with
out serious interruption. When the
grating is done the wounds must be
thoroughly waxed in order to keep
out the air and water This is one
| of the things that must be carefully
done Many failures in top-grafting
are to be attributed to a lack of this
thorough waxing. But if you saw off
the limbs and leave them to dry out
you invite the same failure. You can
do this, if you think it would help
you to any extent, viz, Saw the limbs
off in the winter and then when you
get ready TO do your grating saw
them off again an inch or more be-
| low this first cut When the scion
and the stock are Joined the waxing
must be done while the wounds are
| fresh otherwise the flow Of the sap
| from the stock into the scion will be
| impeded If you want to clean up
! these cutoff limbs in the winter
time, then you can do this double
cutting here referred to, otherwise.
would have one man go ahead and do
the cutting of the limbs, another to
follow and set the CRAFTS and a third
one TO do the waxing, or you can
divide the work as seems best or have
it all done by one hand. In no case
would I allow any of the waxing to
wait over night. Cut your scions in
| the dormant season and keep them
| dormant but do not allow them to dry
out You can do your grating sue
| cessfully after the sap begins to flow
in the spring if your sciOns are DOR
mant. Remember the rule-'A thirsty
scion and a watery stock We have
successfully grated as late as the
| first of May when the tree was in full
| leaf but would not recommend that
the work be done as late as that
Il doubt if anyone can do better
in working over lot of Ben Davis
than to top-graft to Rome Beauty
and Winesap. The Rome does not
sell as high as the sap but it is
such an enormous bearer that it pays
very we'll.
While | am considering matters
at Sunyside, perhaps I would better
quote the following letter from J. F.
Prickitt, Sunnyside, Wash. r. F. D.
No 2, which reads as follows: i
have 140 trees seven years old that
were supposed to be Winesaps, but
have proven to be Stayman Wine
sap. Do you think it advisable to
top-graft them to some other vari-
ETY.? If so, what variety would you
advise? l have 100 Jonathans, So
Rome Beauty, IS Newtown Pippins,
As Arkansas Black and SIS SpitZen-
burgs. The JOnathans, so Rome
Beauties, so Newtown Pippins and
so Splits were set last spring
my judgment is that you let your
Staymans alone. 1t is larger apple
| than the Winesap, equally as good in
| uuality-Some say better-and keeps
t Just as we'll 1t sells just as well
sometimes better in the western mar
kets. The only objection to the Stay
| man is it is not as good a seller in
| the Atlantic cities, not on account OF
| its quality. but because it is not so
we'll colored. In packing the old
| Winesap for the New York market
we put in no apples that are not
| three-fourths red-all others we re-
| ject as "pales" and they sell for
about half as much as the well color
ed ones. If we pack the Stayman in
| the same way and have none except
those three-fourths red We can get
as much for them and perhaps little
more. But the per cent of 'pales,
will be much larger than in the old
saps My opinion is that what you
will lose in waiting five years or
more for your tops to come into full
bearing viii! more than offset the loss
in 'pales.
81 have been asked to express my
opinion about the Delicious. / said