top grafting

noun Horticulture.

grafting in the top, as of a tree, in order to replace existing branches with those of a more desired variety or form.

Origin of top grafting

First recorded in 1895–1900

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Cleft-grafting is often employed for other purposes than the 88 top-grafting of old trees.
The Nursery Book
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Free from blight and apparently valuable as a stock for top-grafting.
The Pears of New York
U. P. Hedrick
This is particularly the case in stock-grafts and in renewing an orchard by top-grafting.
American Pomology
J. A. Warder
Any varieties of butternut or black walnut can be propagated by budding or top-grafting them on seedling stocks.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fifth Annual Meeting
Various
The most important factor in the top-grafting of an old tree is the shaping of the top.
The Nursery Book
Liberty Hyde Bailey