An old friend of mine that served in the Marines in Vietnam used to say that Chestnut trees smelled like an Okinawan whore house.
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At least not publicly. I’ve never complained to anyone about the smell of anything on their property-even flooding septic tanks.
At any rate, the virtue and flaws of tastes and smells are entirely subjective. But most fruit trees have a sweet smell, and the fact that pears and chestnuts do not is the main point.
I find the smell of multiflora roses offensive in their overpowering sweetness, while from a distance it is mostly just a rose scent which I love from my tea roses.
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My tip of the day: if it’s your first time grafting, get the gauze and medical tape ready, and stIck it right next to your parafilm and grafting knife.
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What type of graft were you doing when you got cut? I’m teaching a small grafting class next week and want to limit blood loss.
I learned long ago-the hard way- to wear a leather glove on my non-dominant hand when cutting the tongue on whip and tongue.
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It was a saddle graft. I got cut on my dominant hand thumb as I brought the knife back toward me.
It’s all good. I hear the gods of grafting demand a blood sacrifice, so hopefully I should have good luck this year.
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If I’m doing a lot of grafting I wrap the thumb on my dominant hand with adhesive tape or lots of wraps of medical gauze.
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Your doing it wrong, I wrap my finger AFTER I cut it, lol
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Fortunately my first time grafting included only clefts and splice grafts- so I’ve never cut my fingers grafting. Both methods worked fine, but now I usually only use the splice. No knives- all cutting is done with a double bladed Italian pruner. Pruning is another story- with plenty of bloody violence in it.
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In retrospect, I think perhaps I could have and should have used a splice. But the scions I got from the USDA were very thick specimens and slightly fatter than my rootstock, so my book knowledge told me to use a saddle graft. And it didn’t look too complicated, so I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. And actually, it was kind of simple. Except for the whole blood-letting thing of course… 
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When sending scions and using a slider seal bag and bubble mailer,before sealing the outside,I open the slider a small amount and blow a little air into the bag of scions and close it quick.This gives some added protection,in case the postal handlers decide to take their kid gloves off or if there is pressure from other parcels,on the way to it’s new owner.
Putting a bag inside another could also work,with air pressure in the outer one. Brady
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A lot of us create multi-variety trees after an original variety has achieved some size and is established, as opposed to the multi-variety trees available from some nurseries grafted when trees are sill extremely juvenile. My rule for creating multi-variety trees is that the mother tree should be the most vigorous cultivar in such a multi-variety tree or at least similarly vigorous as any other varieties added on.
This is especially useful if you created a dual or triple variety central leader tree, where each higher tier is created from a graft that becomes an extension of the trunk. If the first tier is the more vigorous variety, you are creating a tree much easier to train and maintain than the original variety would be by itself, because the primary difficulty in maintaining a central leader tree is sustaining the dominance of the lower tier or tiers because of the better light exposure of upper scaffolds. If the upper scaffolds are inherently less vigorous you can keep them on the tree much longer without replacing them after they become of excessive diameter. You could accomplish the same thing by grafting each individual scaffold of upper tiers over to less vigorous varieties, if your goal is to have many varieties on the same tree. .
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I tried a saddle graft once and didn’t really care for it. To me its more difficult to perform than a cleft graft. With both saddle and cleft grafts the most difficult part is cutting a satisfactory wedge. When cleft grafting you are cutting the wedge in the scion and are able to hold it in any position that feels comfortable. When cutting the wedge on a saddle graft you are cutting a stationary branch on the tree and it can often be difficult to position your body and hands in such a way as to make the right cut. The slit portion of both grafts is much easier to perform so in my opinion the cleft is superior as it puts the easier cut on the limb rather than the scion…
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I have done a few saddle grafts and reached a similar conclusion as you did. From a safety standpoint I think the cleft is less likely to leave you with blood on your fingers.
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Speedster,
Saddle grafts are most of the time done with a grafting tool. They are more of a perfect situation graft with pencil sized scions and rootstocks. Very effective graft on benchgraft. Most of the time in the real world you and I know cleft is useful when scion and stock are not perfect. Rind graft are used most when someone has pencil sized scions and 6 inch trees like frequently happens with crabapples. Whip of course are the most common because you cut the rootstock off at the point where it matches the scion thickness.
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Far be it for me to be giving tips, but on this one thing perhaps I can be helpful. I’ve often seen the question from newcommers of what to do when your bare root trees arrive in the mail but the ground is too frozen, muddy, or you just don’t have time to plant your trees- what do you do. I’m sure there are lots of answers and solutions, but I wanted to show one that works great and is very simple.
I just take one of those big storage tubs (35 gallon or so I’d guess). and use mulch or sawdust or both as a medium. Those materials hold moisture well but also remain loose, so when you are ready your tree just pulls right out with no more damage to the new roots.
I put about 6 inches of mulch/sawdust in bottom of tube, put trees in, then finish filling tub. The I water the whole thing pretty hard. I put holes in the tub I use so it won’t just hold water which would likely be a death sentence. If you don’t want to ruin your tub then make sure you tip it and get out any standing water-but I’d strongly advise using some kind of container with drainage.
Anyway, today I pulled my last tree out of my storage tub (A red haven peach from Peaceful Valley). It has been in there for 12 days. No, you shouldn’t leave them that long- especially when they have broken dormancy as this one did. But I thought this proved how well this method works and thought it was a really interesting photo. All the white roots are new and grown after I put my tree in the tub. I thought it was interesting to see the early stages of new root growth and get some idea what happens in the days after we plant a tree. I mistakenly just assumed that new roots would come out of the ends of the old, cut roots, but that isn’t what happens at all. The new growth just pops out randomly alond the SIDES of all the old root stubs. The big roots sprout the most and best looking new ones, but the fine roots also send out fine new hair0like roots. Cool stuff!
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Thanks. I thought it was really neat seeing how roots start growing. Still waiting for some new pencil art, Bill! Do you ever do anything fruit related (such as the artist go-to model: a bowl of fruit) or do you mostly just do people? I’ve enjoyed your artwork and would love to see more over in the lounge!
I discovered a useful hack . I often break wooden handles on shovels digging trees . Also post hole diggers . So a few days ago I was moving a plum tree and broke the post hole digger handle . Clamshell type . I had already broke the other side and shortened it . So I got to thinking there should be a thin wall pipe that is 1 I/2 ID . Could not come up with one . Corner post on chain link fence is 2 " and top rail 1 1/4 " . So I was digging a post hole behind the shed and noticed a piece of pipe . It was a line post from the chain link fence and 1 1/2 " ID . So I slipped 3’ of this 6’ piece over each handle clear down to the end in the digger . Drilled new holes and bolted it on . Does not add too much weight or bulk . I think it will work on my shovel handle also . Need to buy another post for that .
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Great tip. I have a shovel that has cracked.
Aaahhh, I see the advantage of having ‘noodle’ arms. I’ll NEVER break a shovel. 
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