CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - ZetaTalk

148 THE NURSERY-MANUAI,dressil,g, however. The stub is then split to the depthof l-& or 3 inches. Various styles of grafting-knife areused to split the stub. Oneof the best ones is shown inFig. 168. It is commonlymade from an old file by aFro. 1GS. Home-made gmfting-knife.bla,cksmith. The blade iscurved, so that the bark of the stub is drawn in when theknife is entering, thereby lessening the danger of looseningthe bark. Another style of knife is illustrated in Fig. 169.In this tool, the cutting edge is straight, and, being thinnerthan the other tool, tends rather to cut the stub than to splitit. On the end of these knivesi:; a wedge, about 4 or 5 incheslong. for opening the cleft. Thewedge is driven into the cleft and~~awaw~,~FIxa. 169. CLfo-grafting-knife (x 4).allowed to remain while the cionsare placed. If the cleft does not open wide enough to allow thecions to enter, the operator bears down on the handle. It isimportant that the wedge stand well away from the curvedblade in the knife shown in Fig. 168, else it cannot be driveninto the stub. In Fig. 169 7 showing the style of knifecommonly seen in the market - the wedge is too short formost efficient service.There are various devicesfor facilitating the operationof cleft-grafting, but noneof them has become popular.Oue of the best isHoit’s device (Fig. 170))FIG. 170. Hoit’s grd&r.which cuts a slot into theside of the stub. The machineis held in place by a trigger or clamp working in notcheson the under side of the frame. The upper handle is then