Part 36 (2/2)

MR. BERNATH: Upright until you graft. That's only the understock. Watch them closely, say about two weeks, and you may test it. In other words, knock these out and examine the root system. When you see those little white rootlets beginning to grow like thin macaroni, white, most of them, that's a sign that you had better get busy grafting.

MR. WEBER: But not until you see the edges of those roots poking through.

MR. RICK: And the stock isn't in the case until you are ready to graft?

MR. BERNATH: They are in the benches, but not in the case. No outside cover except just the gla.s.s of the house.

That's about all there is to it. It isn't much.

MR. RICK: It's been a wonderful demonstration.

MR. SZEGO: When do you cut your scion wood?

MR. BERNATH: Oh, I get scion wood from December on, late December, January and February.

MR. RICK: It would be all right just to go out to the tree and cut your scions and bring them in and the next day graft?

MR. BERNATH: Yes. Well, no. I like to store them a little bit, for the reason that the starches will form. It's amazing how wood will act after you cut it, provided it doesn't dry out. All those cells, you know, in that they form what we call a certain type of starch. You can do it all right with apple trees and pear trees. You can put it right on the tree right from the tree, but I wouldn't advise it on the nut trees.

MR. RICK: Do you keep your scions cool until you are ready to use them?

A MEMBER: My way of keeping it is in fresh sawdust. That's the best means.

MR. WEBER: Do you dampen it any?

MR. BERNATH: Yes. And I have nothing but an earth cellar where I store my scion wood, and they keep well until June.

MR. RICK: To prevent fungus would it be a good idea to dip them in a weak solution of Bordeaux?

MR. BERNATH: I never tried it. I couldn't say. That's one reason why sometimes some of our members here wonder why I write and say, ”Please do not wax.” I do not want a waxed scion. As far as I am concerned, I would throw them right out. I wouldn't bother to graft them.

MR. CORSAN: You just put them in damp sawdust?

MR. BERNATH: Yes, put them in damp peat or even damp newspaper, wrap it and s.h.i.+p it.

(Newspaper is very good for this purpose.--J. C. McD.)

MR. CORSAN: And no waxing.

MR. BERNATH: No.

MR. STOKE: I agree with you. I got some scions that were waxed, and the scion was beautifully green and every bud was dead.

MR. BERNATH: That's it again. The reason for that is that you have to heat the wax to make it thin enough, and the reaction of the heat is bad for the scion wood.

MR. STOKE: I don't believe it's that alone. I believe a bud can't go without air for a great length of time. It is a living organism and needs the air. Those scions had come from Europe, and every one was dead.

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