ABSTRACT
Delicate veneer grafts are performed with the first finger resting against the spine at the hinge point or beyond and the thumb resting on the tip of the heel. Most grafters find making cuts on the rootstock is easier than on the scion because the bench, or pot, can be used to steady and ‘line up’ the knife hand. When the grafter is standing, the scion or rootstock is held by the non-knife hand, pointing upwards, with the apex of the rootstock or base of the scion pointing across the body towards the knife hand. An alternative method of making splice grafts particularly suited to those in a seated position is to pull the cutting edge of the knife towards the grafter. In field grafting, the addition of matching cuts to rootstock and scion to produce an interlocking ‘tongue’ converts a basic splice into a whip and tongue.
