Every morning when you get up, you put on a hundred dollar bill. Surprising? A decent pair of work shoes ($50); jeans or cotton pants ($20); shirt ($15); leather belt ($20); socks, etc. ($5). That's more than $100 and it assumes you were given a free cap.
That grafting kit you carry into the field each spring might surprise you, too. Last spring when a couple of Missouri nut tree grafters were comparing tools, they began to tally the investment in their caddies.
Start with the caddy, a Wal-Mart plastic tool caddy ($8). Now put in the recommended tools found in most every kit: Bow saw ($5). If you use a Felco folding saw as many do chalk up $20. Basic Victorionox Swiss grafting knife ($11). Knives may cost as much as $60. Felco No. 2 pruning shears ($35). Don't settle for anything less. Arrow J-21 staple gun ($16). Arkansas sharpening stone - double sided, medium and fine ($15). That's $90 and you haven't bought any supplies yet.
You will need the following to perform a common side-bark inlay or a four-flap graft: 300 sandwich bags ($2); staples ($2); grafting tape ($1); masking tape ($1); Elmers glue ($2); aluminum foil ($2); aluminum ID tags ($15). Don't skip these or you will cuss a lot later when you can't remember which cultivar you grafted to what tree. Colored flagging tape ($10/dozen). That's another $35 or $125 total.
Now add a sheath for the pruning shears ($5) and a few other "necessities" that make each of us unique, and you get a good idea of the start-up investment. And don't forget that 400cc 4-wheeler you "just have to have" to get around the farm ($5,600).
Missouri Chapter Walnut Council