od was thoroughly dormant and plump. I cut it right out of the
orchard in May or June and got them to live. Of course if you cut scions
from the ends of branches, you haven't a chance at all.
One thing to remember in the chip graft is not to cut your chip too
thin. If you do you will lose a good many. I go right into it. If you do
it right it will hurt your finger so you can only work for two or three
hours at a time. It won't dry out so quickly if you cut it thick and
will stand a better chance to live. I try to get the scion to fit the
first time.
THE SECRETARY: What do you tie it with after you put on the waxed cloth?
MR. WIGGINS: I use a strip of common cloth out of the store. Your
fingers will be waxed enough in working so that the strip does not need
to be waxed. You tie it after wrapping it.
A MEMBER: Would you protect that with a paper bag?
MR. WIGGINS: No.
A MEMBER: Do you place it on the north or south?
MR. WIGGINS: The point that decides the exact place on the stock is the
smoothness and greenness and health of it. I pick out the cleanest and
best places. The whole top of the tree is above the graft.
A MEMBER: When do you cut off the tree?
MR. WIGGINS: According to the weather. It takes two or three or four
weeks for proper healing. I open up a few and if they are all right, I
open all of them. Just as soon as it heals, I cut the top off.
PROFESSOR SMITH: What is your ordinary practice in cutting scions?
MR. WIGGINS: Last year I was sick and got behind with my work so I cut
them each day as I needed them. I usually cut them earlier and bury them
in a shady place to keep the wood dormant. I can get 100 per cent by
chip grafting and in no other way. I don't use the cleft graft at all.
The better fit you get in this method of propagating the higher the
percentage will run. If you make a fit that is not quite a fit, you will
be astonished to lose about 95 per cent. If you are just a little more
careful, you might get 100 per cent to grow. I can tell by the way it
feels when it is right. I use a crude method but succeed with it. I do
four hundred in a half day. What is the use of going to another method
when I get good results with this?
PROFESSOR SMITH: You say a half-inch scion on a four-inch stock?
MR. WIGGINS: Yes, on a four-inch stock you get a cut an inch or one and
a half inch wide. You have a large space that is not covered at all.
PROFESSOR SMITH: They live?
MR. WIGGINS: Ye
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