an see how far out in leaf the Thomas
variety was when the grafting was done.

The following series of slides show how Mr. Becker top-works the black
walnuts.

First, removing that portion of the stock, note he used a pruning saw,
makes a cut at the point where he wants to graft. He uses the bark slit
method. The scion is shaped by one stroke of the grafting knife; a long
slanting cut is made and the scion inserted in the stock. Just prior to
placing the scion, the bark of the stock is slit, two cuts with the
point of the knife, approximate width of the scion and down along the
bark to the length the scion is to be inserted, then the scion is
placed. The next step is to cut off the little sliver of bark which is
pushed out, at the point where it does not contact the scion. In this
tree, two scions were placed, the scions being wrapped tightly with
waxed muslin which was prepared beforehand, using strips about one-half
inch wide. Enough was used to firmly bind the scions to the stock.
Please note that a small piece of wax muslin was placed on the inside of
the scion to prevent the wax from going down between the scion and
stock. The final step is waxing the scion and brushing with hot wax, in
order to prevent the scion from drying out; to provide shade, Mr.
Becker, in this case, used grass and made a hood over the scion, tying
it with string.

The following slides show the same procedure of grafting other trees.
You will note in one case he has climbed up into the branches of the
tree. To shade the scions, he used aluminum foil, folded around the
scion and tied with a rubber grafting strip. In all these pictures the
scions used were Colby.

Mr. Becker is very adept, quick, and does the grafting so that it
actually seems effortless. His technique is so fast, there is very
little chance of the scion drying out before it is placed.

On July 26th, I returned to Climax and the grafts were successful, as
you can see by the following series. The one failure was the first tree
that was grafted, and which had the grass for shading of the scion.

Rock Phosphate for Nut Trees

HARRY P. BURGART, _Union City, Mich._

My soil is of the sandy type and I have to watch the mineral content
rather closely for nitrogen and phosphate deficiencies. Winter-killing
of one year black walnut and pecan seedlings is serious during seasons
when our winters are less severe than usual and during winters when we
had had plenty of snow