The Paonia newspaper., 1911-02-03
Practical Hints
For Orchardists

The State Agricultural college is sending
out the folowing letter containing practical
hints to the amateur orchardist on grating
OF fruit teees:
'.AII OF us have so often seen growing near
the house or in the yard apple trees whose
lives would be endangered were their records
for fruit bearing Investigated. Very often
they are healthy, thrifty looking in the best
of condition, us far as wood growth 10 con-
cerned.
In most of these cases there Is no reason
other than the inertia Of the owner. for this
unfruitful condition.
The word grating" has an ominous and
mysterious sound To some who might by a
surprisingly small amount Of time and work
perform simple operations In top grating.
which would be the cause ofsuch barren trees
becoming fruitful and useful a- well as orna-
mental.
Almost any man or boy with the slightest
degree of Ingenuity and dexterity can saw
off a limb, split the stub and slip In couple
Of .eions, or twigs cut from some good apple
tree. Trne. IL may be a rough Job, but you
Will be surprised at the feeling OF piensurey GU
will eA perience " hen you see the little twig=
begin to grow, and later to blossom and
bear fruit.
The process of top grating IL not 50 diffi-
cult to understand and 20 perform as the aN-
erage person thinks. fir-t, go 20 some good
apple tree. which you know l. a good bearer
and "A good variety. and cut your seions- II
for the novelty Of the thing, or for the pur-
mos. of experimentIng you wish to try two
or more different varieties. 1t IL quite prae-
ticnble to graft several varieties on one tree
Trees have. been seen bearing seven or eight
different kinds of apples at one time. You
may have to get your scions from some neigh
bor(-eIons are simply twIgs from last years
growth. The scions should be cut while
the tree Is dormant, or any time before growth
starts In the spring. but preferably In the fall
as the buds begin to swell sometimes soon
after the first of January. Take Tor your
seions the tips Of the limbs which have a
growth from twelve to eighteen inches the
preyioui summer. DOnot take water sprouts
or shoots coming from the trunk or large
limbs as buds from these sprouts are not
usually so strong as as those from the nor
NAL growth. Cut the scions OF back NJ lar
a- the previous seasons growth extends and
bury them in moist sand or soil, either In the
cellar or on the north side of some building.
About the time the buds on the trees begin
to swell, or from about the first ofMarch on,
is the best time to do the grating. helimbs
to be grated should be somewhere between
an inch and three inches in diameter. They
should be sawed squarely of and the stubs
split with n chiseI down about two iuehes
straight through the middle. The chlsel IL
then removed and a wedge about half an inch
wide Inserted In the middle of the stub for
spreading the split. II the wedgeis much
wider than this, II may not leave room on
each side to insert the scion. Next. take one
OF the scion twigr and cut IL into severa
pieces each having three or four buds. Cut
the Inrger end of one Of these pieces wedge
shaped and insert IL in the split in the end OF
the stub no that the third bud from the tip
comes n little below the stub. Put one scion
on each side Of the wedge and adjust them
so that the inner bark on the outer side OF
the scion comes in contact with the inner
bark of the stub large limb. Then. pull
out the wedge, and the wood will spring
together and hold the scions. All freshly cut
surfaces and the crack In the limb should be
filed with grating wax to keep them from
drying out.
A good grating wax il made by melting
together two pounds OF resin, one pound OF
beeswax, and half pound Of taow. After
they are melted the liquid should be poured
in cold water and then pulled like tany unit
IL Is of n bun color.
Jim Langston was a passenger to
~ II. - 49, a..