ordeaux mixture.

The surface of the bark of scions that are being kept should always be
dry, never moist. But they should never be so dry as to look shrivelled.
Until you know just what scions will do under the conditions you provide
you should examine them frequently.

_Equipment_

The essentials are a knife, raffia and the wax heater with brush. A saw
is necessary if stocks are to be cut back, and pruning shears are
convenient for cutting scions into proper lengths and for trimming and
pruning stocks. The knife most used is the grafting knife of Maher &
Gross, with a three inch straight blade and a round handle that gives a
good grasp.

I used to suspect that the men who said that scions ought to be cut with
two strokes of the knife were trying to establish an unattainable ideal.
But after Mr. Jones and Dr. Morris had taught me how to sharpen my knife
I found that I could cut one that way myself sometimes. Mr. Jones's
method of sharpening is to hone the knife flat on the surface next the
scion and with a bevel on the upper edge. I found that this made scion
cutting so much easier that I thought it was the whole secret. But one
day I saw another doubter come up to Mr. Jones and ask him if it was
true that he could cut a scion with two strokes of the knife. Mr. Jones
said he thought he could but he had no knife just then. The man pulled
out his pocket knife and asked if that would do. Mr. Jones looked at it,
took a stick and with two strokes cut a perfect scion. Since then I have
felt that there is something to it besides the way you sharpen your
knife.

A very important element in shaping scions is to give a drawing motion
to the knife by keeping the handle well advanced before the blade. The
cutting is done with a draw and not a push. This is one of the most
important factors for success in shaping scions.

It seems hardly necessary to say that the stroke of the knife should be
away from the grafter. Yet it is a common sight to see beginners cutting
to the thumb.

Dr. Morris showed me that if, in sharpening your knife, you hold the
little whetstone between the thumb and middle finger of the left hand
you are less likely to put a feather edge on it. A feather edge is
something to clip the sprouting wings of any budding saint of a grafter.
When you get the right edge on your knife often you can use it the whole
day without resharpening, or at most with simply a stropping on a piece
of wood or leather. But im