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 glass 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.