Bridging Gopher Girdles

Categories: Fruit Growing

How shall I make the bridge-graft or root-graft over the trunks of trees

girdled by gophers? Has this method proved successful in saving trees

three or four inches in diameter, and how is it done?



The bridging over of injury by mice by grafting has been known to be

successful for decades in countries where this trouble is encountered.

Undoubtedly the same plan would work in the case of all bark injuries

w ich can be bridged. The plan is to take good well-matured shoots which

are a little longer than the injury which has to be spanned, making a

sloping cut on both ends, also a cut into the healthy bark above and

below the injury, and slip the cut ends of the cutting into the cuts in

the bark so that the ends go under the bark above and below, and the cut

ends are closely connected with the growing layer of the stock. If the

cutting is made a little longer than the distance to be spanned, the

tendency of the cutting by straightening is to hold itself in place.

When in place, the connections should he covered with wax to prevent

drying out.