DR. McKAY: We have done some work on budding chestnuts but it hasn't been successful. We have had indefinite results. As Mr. Stoke says, grafting is so much more simple. We realize more work should be done on budding. We simply do our propagating the way it is easiest. Until the time comes that we have got more information on budding we will go along as we do now. One of the difficulties is that the wood is fluted and it is hard to get a good bud fit. It doesn't make for a good fit. We carried out a little experiment on one year old seedling at the crown. There is a smooth area on the stem as it enters into the root condition. It is a perfectly smooth area and we tried putting sealed buds at that point. We have had good success in putting those kinds of buds in at the time when you would ordinarily bud fruits, in the fall, where growth conditions are still good. Another year we did that same work and we didn't succeed so well. So we don't know exactly what we did wrong. In order to keep a set from those buds we don't know just what the conditions should be.
MR. O'ROURKE: To summarize then, the two successful methods are the greenhouse method and the field method used by Mr. Gerardi.
MR. STOKE: I mostly use a plain splice. The cut is about four times as long as scion diameter, if it is on a stock of the same size. It is the best method. I use also a modified cleft graft with a little trimming. Mr. Jones brought out that modified cleft graft and I have made a little change. Here is the stock, and a modified cleft graft is a side graft with the stock top cut off. You cut in at an angle far enough and you put your scion in here and there is your modified cleft graft. You get contact on all four lines. It takes experience and judgment. You cut your scion wedge and then make your understock cut and you will seldom make a mistake after you get experience. That is a side graft and a modified cleft graft. That makes a flexible portion here and you get a fit on both sides. But with the ordinary cleft graft, if you go to the end of your stock you still have a split and not a perfect fit.
MEMBER: Would you explain that? If your scion is not the same size it might over lap or ... how do you handle that?
MR. STOKE: If the scion is undersized, you don't cut so deep. Sometimes the stock is a little oversize. You simply cut less deep in your stock. If you have a large stock and small scion I'd make a bark graft.
MEMBER: I should like to bring up one point. That is produce more nut trees and do it cheaper. It seems to lie between Mr. Gerardi and Mr. Bernath. Mr. Gerardi can set between six and seven hundred per day, and tie them himself, and Mr. Bernath will graft between seven hundred and a thousand a day with someone else doing the tying.
MR. CHASE: We have tried all these grafting methods with varying degrees of success. Our propagation experiments at Norris have been directed at the development of more economic methods.
Conifer grafts are often placed in a grafting case for rapid callusing. This year we tried some black walnut grafts and found that they callused in 10 to 14 days when placed in a grafting case. These were bench grafted on piece roots, using modified cleft and side grafts. Later we tried chestnut with excellent results. Then we made more chestnut grafts, wrapped them in damp moss and placed them in a lab oven with a temperature of approximately 75 degrees. These callused rapidly and were planted immediately in the nursery. They made good growth.
We think that some adaptation of this method has possibilities in our region. Often our chestnut grafts are damaged by late spring frosts. If we can bench graft, callus, and then hold the grafts until favorable weather, frost damage will be eliminated. It may be possible to handle black walnut in some similar fashion. Then we would be dealing only with successful grafts. A cold frame provided with heating cable should be adequate.