not hold, put in screws and study Basil King's
book on the "Conquest of Fear." This is a black walnut graft that I put
in late this year with screws. You can see the screws projecting from
the paraffin cover. I do not care if the screw sticks out quite a little
distance. It is covered with a thin layer of paraffin. This graft caught
and started to grow but was killed off by sprouts springing from the
butternut in great masses before it had a chance to assert its own
individuality. The graft, however, is all complete. Here is another one,
where the screws are projecting, which was killed off by the stock
sprouts below, with the repair all complete. In fact it would have gone
on well enough to a successful growth if I hadn't been away and allowed
the stock sprouts to grow. This shows, incidentally, the thin layer of
paraffin. If we use a thick layer of paraffin it will crack and not be
successful.

The simple splice graft is a very simple affair. In the first place it
is well to have a knife with which you can shave. I think, Mr. Chairman,
you could shave with that (handing knife to the President). That is the
sort of edge to use in all our grafting work, the sort of edge that will
bring terror to the heart of the mother of boys. I find very few people
who really can sharpen a knife. I have been surprised at the small
proportion of people who are really able to do it. They put on a feather
edge, or they leave a round edge, or at any rate they are unable
apparently to use the little finesse required to put the finishing touch
on a really good knife. Above all other essentials is this little piece
of carborundum made at Niagara Falls, F F Fine. Moisten it, hold it in
the fingers this way, and then by simply rubbing it back and forth in
this way you can put on the very finest edge. Do not use a knife unless
you can shave with it because it is quite essential to have the cambium
layer very nicely kept.

A couple of years ago hearing of Mr. Biederman's work in the use of the
plane for grafting with his Persian walnuts, it occurred to me to try it
with shagbark hickories. I went out in the barn to look for a block
plane and I found three or four rusty ones. I wondered where they came
from and then it occurred to me that about eight years ago I had thought
to try the plane, and did try the plane, but it was not a success. That
was before we had any success in grafting hickories. Now we may use the
plane almost to the exclusion