North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david.maxwell@dal.ca]

> All of the recent messages about grafting knives made me wonder about
> how to do grafting workshops with kids. I still remember someone
> coming to my 6th grade class and talking about grafting but we didn't
> try any. My main questions are about tools and what ages to try it
> with.

One "trick" I picked up last year which makes the whole exercise safer: 
prepare a whole 
bunch of squares of thin plywood or hardboard about 3 inches square, with a 
hole in the 
middle.  When making vertical cuts, (such as the tongue in a whip-and-tongue 
graft), slip the 
plywood guard over the scion or rootstock first.  That way if the wood 
unexpectedly splits, the 
plywood guard protects the fingers underneath.  Obviously, once one has made 
the cuts, one 
takes the plywood guard off before sticking the graft together.  (If I had 
had this a number of 
years ago, I wouldn't have a numb area on the tip of my left index finger 
from where I sliced 
the digital nerve.)
Other than this, I would certainly go for hands-on experience with grade 6's. 
 But I can't 
guarantee that nobody will cut themselves, any more than I could in a class 
of 30 year olds.
One other comment I would make concerns the knives:  somebody suggested a 
kitchen knife 
because "it is less sharp, and hence less likely to cut oneself".  This is 
incorrect - a sharp 
knife will cut the grafting wood with less force, and hence one is less 
likely to slip and cut 
oneself. One's knife should be sharp enough to shave with.  (Use the hair on 
your forearm to 
test it.)