(The notes I contributed to the 1945 Report under the title "Experiences
With Nut Grafting" were so fragmentary as to be of little value. In an
effort to correct the error I am offering the following supplementary
notes in the hope that amateurs like myself may find them of some
practical use.)
My best success with the propagation of nut trees has been with the
following methods. For budding, I use the plate bud exclusively. For
grafting on stocks up to one inch I use either the splice graft or the
modified cleft graft. For larger stocks I use either the simple bark
graft or the slot bark graft. Each will be discussed in order.
In making the plate bud, it is cut from the scion or bud stick the same
as for the familiar T bud. Usually a bit of wood is cut away with the
bud, which should not be removed. A bud, or a bit of bark, should
similarly be cut from the stock at the desired point, and discarded. The
area of exposed cambium on the stock should correspond as closely as
possible with the cambium area exposed on the bud. The bud is then laid
on the exposed cambium of the stock, and bound in place, preferably with
rubber budding strips. The point of the bud should be left exposed.
[Illustration: SIMPLE BARK GRAFT Useful with thin-barked species.]
Choice of time when conditions are right is quite as necessary for
success as the proper procedure. There are two separate periods when the
plate bud may be used on walnut with the greatest success. The first
period, in Virginia, is the latter half of May, when the black walnut
stock is in almost full leaf. If done earlier the bud is likely to be
drowned by the excessive bleeding of this species. Dormant buds cut the
previous winter are used.
The follow-up care is vitally important. The stock should be cut off
above the bud within five to seven days after budding. If successful,
the bud will start into growth within another week or ten days, and may
be a foot long within 30 days.
[Illustration: 1. Slot bark graft; useful in top-working.