A 



JOURNAL 



OF 



NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, 



AND 



THE ARTS. 



SUPPLEMENT TO VOL. XXlt. 



ARTICLE I. 



An Account of the Chinese Method of propagating Fruit 

 Trees by Abscission, By Dr. James Howison *. 



• SIR, mft 



JL HE Chinese, in place of raising fruit trees from seeds Chinese mo. 

 or from grafts, as is the custom in Europe, have adopted \" ix l fruit**" 

 the following method of increasing them. trees. 



They select a tree of that species which they wish to 

 propagate, and fix upon such a branch as will least hurt or 

 disfigure the tree by its removal. 



Round this branch, and as near as they can conveniently 

 to its junction witii the trunk, they wind a rope, made of 

 sfraw, besmeared with cow dung, until a ball is formed, 

 five or six times the diameter of the branch. This is in- 

 tended as a bed into which the young roots may shoot. 

 Having performed this part of the operation, they imme- 

 diately under the ball divide the bark down to the wood, 

 for nearly two thirds of the circumference of the branch. 

 A cocoa-nut shell or small pot is then hung over the ball, 

 with a hole in its bottom, so small that water put therein 



* Trans, of the Soc. of Arts, vol. xxv. p. 14. 

 Vol. XXII. —Supplement. Y %vill 



