434 FARMEES' INSTITUTES. 



artificial method of plant multiplication. It divides itself into two general 

 heads, budding and grafting. In this abstract the latter head alone is con- 

 sidered. 



There are several hundred kinds of grafting in practice, each method 

 differing only in some particular of manipulation. Koot-grafting is the 

 most important division of grafting to the fruit grower. Great quantities of 

 nnrserygrown apple trees and many plum and cherry trees are root-grafted. 

 The seedlings or stocks nsed for this purpose are nsually a year old and are grown 

 on deep, rich soil for the purpose of getting a long, clean root. The roots 

 are cut into pieces two or three inches long upon which the scions of the 

 desired varieties are grafted. This operation is performed in-doors in winter 

 when labor is cheap, the stocks having been dug up and heeled-in in a cellar 

 before winter set in. When the union is made it is bound rapidly with 

 waxed string, and the graft is then ready to be laid away in sand or moss 

 until weather permits it to be set out of doors. The waxed string with 

 which the graft is tied should be strong enough to hold the parts together 

 and yet weak enough to allow it to be very easily broken by the operator. 

 We have found the best string to be No. 18 cotton yarn. This comes in balls. 

 The balls are dropped into a kettle of melted grafting wax and allowed to 

 remain ten minutes, by which time the wax will have entirely permeated 

 them. When in use, the ball is placed in an ordinary grocer's ball-holder 

 which is hung above and a little to the right of the operator. The old- 

 fashioned whip or tongue graft is the one almost universally employed in 

 root-grafting. This method lias very decided faults. The heart wood of the 

 scion and stock do not usually unite readily and there often results a cavity 

 in the center of the stem. At the College we have used the veneer graft 

 extensively of late. In this method the hard wood of neither the scion nor 

 stock come in contact. The sap woods are applied to each other, insuring a 

 perfect union. 



Question: Can a plant start up except from some seed or germ? 



Prof. Bailey: No. Many of the spores or germs of small vegetable life 

 floac in the air about us ready to grow whenever favorable conditions offer. 

 Such are the germs that make mould or rot on fruit. On top of Mt. Blanc 

 the air is free from germs anl fruit will keep without canning. 



Question : Is sand better than vegetable mould for. propagation of house- 

 plants ? 



Prof. Bailey : Yes. 



Question: Uow old is clover seed good ? 



Prof. Bailey: Don't know. Much of what is sold is over two years old; 

 a certain per cent loses its vitality each year. 



Question : How is it that old weeds turn up on new land 100 miles away 

 from settlement? 



Prof. Bailey: It is hard to say; they come in hay or along with house- 

 hold goods and in a raj'riad of unsuspected ways. 



Question: How about chess? Farmers say they don't know how it gets 

 into their wheat. 



Prof. Bailey: I often wonder how so many weeds get in my corn. 



Question : Do bumble bees fertilize clover? 



Prof. Bailey : Yes. One reason of light early clover seed is because the 

 bumble bees are not working much. In Australia they could raise clover 

 but not clover seed until they imported bumble bees. 



