Field grafting white pine to black pine seedlings

[Jarrod]

Whilst on my trip to japan recently I noticed a man in a field in Kinashi near Takamatsu doing some thing odd. After he noticed me staring he invited me over to show what he and his wife were up to. What I saw was quite amazing. There was a wide row of what looked like 2 year old Japanese black pine seedling that had had the top chopped off them in winter leaving just the first years needles at the base. He and his wife were then grafting White pine directly to the top of it.

I believe these were black pines that were ground germinated and grown on for 2 years from there.

Has and one seen or heard of this being done while the trees are in the field? I have attached a couple of photos.

[Jamie]

its a shame the pics arent clear but it is interesting to know that the japanese have the trees in the field while grafting white pine onto the black pine root stock. as we were talking bout in chat it must be a faster way of doing it.

as yourself i thought they grew these on in pots before pumping them out in the field. different techniques by different farms i guess?

jamie

[anttal63]

Did you have to pee ya self while ya taking these photo's??? What ya couldn't keep ya hands still???

[Jarrod]

I had to pee from excitement!

Something happened withthe original upload. The originals are better!

[Jarrod]

Just thought I would add a higher res image to the mix. What ya think now Ant?

[Elias]

That would've been cool to see, I would've asked him to adopt me, and teach me his ways

[bodhidharma]

Its interesting how close they are together. I wonder how long in between grafting and replanting?

[Jarrod]

El, i wish i could live on this street, it is amazing. This is what it is all about for me. This is the journey....

I am not sure how long till they are dug and the language barrier was big. They had trouble reading words i pointed to in a translation book

This pic shows the magnitude of the job.

[craigw60]

So this guy is grafting them quite a way above ground level ? Can't say I envy him that job. I should have plenty of white pine scions in the next couple of years so we will be able to try it ourselves.

[kcpoole]

Love the grafting Knife
Looks like a shapened old lump of steel

Thanks Jarrod Very cool to see. Amaxzed they did not lift them to do it
Ken

[Josh7]

There are different uses for lawnmower blades.....