l you are ready to use them?

A MEMBER: My way of keeping it is in fresh sawdust. That's the best
means.

MR. WEBER: Do you dampen it any?

MR. BERNATH: Yes. And I have nothing but an earth cellar where I store
my scion wood, and they keep well until June.

MR. RICK: To prevent fungus would it be a good idea to dip them in a
weak solution of Bordeaux?

MR. BERNATH: I never tried it. I couldn't say. That's one reason why
sometimes some of our members here wonder why I write and say, "Please
do not wax." I do not want a waxed scion. As far as I am concerned, I
would throw them right out. I wouldn't bother to graft them.

MR. CORSAN: You just put them in damp sawdust?

MR. BERNATH: Yes, put them in damp peat or even damp newspaper, wrap it
and ship it.

(Newspaper is very good for this purpose.--J. C. McD.)

MR. CORSAN: And no waxing.

MR. BERNATH: No.

MR. STOKE: I agree with you. I got some scions that were waxed, and the
scion was beautifully green and every bud was dead.

MR. BERNATH: That's it again. The reason for that is that you have to
heat the wax to make it thin enough, and the reaction of the heat is bad
for the scion wood.

MR. STOKE: I don't believe it's that alone. I believe a bud can't go
without air for a great length of time. It is a living organism and
needs the air. Those scions had come from Europe, and every one was
dead.

MR. BERNATH: Mr. Silvis will tell you how he keeps his scions good.

MR. SILVIS: Through Goodrich Chemical Company I was interested in what
Dr. Shelton, another Ohio member who is a chemist, had available, an
emulsion called "Goodrite Latex VL-600." That's the agricultural and
horticultural designation for its use. Otherwise, industrially it's
known as Geon 31 XX, and some other names.

MR. CORSAN: That is the latex that congeals quickly?

MR. SILVIS: Yes. It's water soluble and makes a very stiff; impervious
water barrier on everything it becomes attached to. Therefore, if you
dipped the entire scion--usually I go out and cut scion wood and maybe
even as late as the next day dip it in the latex. Then after it's dried
for five minutes, I can take and throw it in the garage and leave it
there until June, July and August, and I can take it to the
refrigerator, the same thing. I think the refrigerator is the best
place.

MR. SHERMAN: You know last March, at the Ohio meeting there was some
wood dipped there, and the latter part of May I came through and picked
u