51S 



A NKW TONIC FOR THE PKAR TREE. 



It was soniewliat diliicult to insert the 

 buds well, as there was no stalk or leaf 

 stem to take liold of. I therefore took a 

 drop of grafting wax on the point of a finger, 

 to which I made bark of the bud, as soon as 

 cut, adhere, and performed the operation 

 very easily. I tied it, as I always do, with 

 two strings of mats, and as the spring winds 

 in my native country are very dry, I cover- 

 ed all, even the bud itself, with grafting 

 wax, put on with a brush, in a melted state. 

 My spring budded roses were growing very 



rapidly, and some of them were flowering 

 the first summer. I tried it also with great 

 success on Madeira Nuts, Peaches, Black 

 English Mulberries, IVcepin^ Ashes, and 

 Weeping Roses. They all ripened their 

 wood sufficiently to stand the following 

 winter well. As I gained a year by this 

 method of budding, and in other respects 

 was very well satisfied with it, I have always 

 since that time continued to perform spring 

 budding, as well as fall grafting. 



Mardi, 1847. R. NeLSON. 



A NEW TONIC FOR THE PEAR TREE, 



Our readers have, no doubt, already noticed 

 our frequent allusions of late to the use of 

 Iron as a remedy for some of the diseases 

 of the pear tree. 



In our last number we gave a translation 

 of the new discovery of M. Gris of the effi- 

 cacy of the sulphate of iron in restoring the 

 healthy state of the leaves of plants which 

 had become pale, sickly, or chlorotic. 



Beside this, we have for several years 

 past, frequently observed the apparent good 

 efTects of the oxides of iron (iron rust) when 

 applied to the roots of the pear tree. Our 

 friend, the late Dr. Keed, of Poughkeepsie, 

 N. Y., was the first person whom we knew 

 to make a direct application of oxide of iron 

 to the soil about his pear trees. This he 

 did in the form of blacksmith scoria and 

 cinders. The result was a remarkably 

 healthy growth, fair fruit, and as he believ- 

 ed an exemption from the fre blight. He 

 founded his practice (as a correspondent, 

 has already observed) upon the fine pro- 

 ductive condition of the pear tree in an 

 iron district with which he was familiar in 

 the Eastern States. 



The practice of applying oxides of iron 



is one which has been ignoruntly, but more 

 or less successfully, employed by cultivators» 

 in this country, here and there, for 50 years 

 past. Old rusty pieces of iron were either 

 laid round the trunk of the tree, or hung 

 upon the branches. Its good effect has been 

 attributed, by some, to electrical action, but 

 it is far more probable that it is solely ow- 

 ing to the gradual mingling of the oxide of 

 the old iron with the soil at the roots of the 

 tree. 



M. Gris, in the article we have presented, 

 has given us the details and the result of 

 his experiments with sulphate oj iron, but 

 we have not seen from him any rationale, 

 of the way in which the normal health of 

 the foliage, and thereby the plant, is re- 

 stored. 



In order to understand this, we must 

 glance briefly at the food of plants and the 

 manner in which the nutritive process is 

 carried on. 



Carbon and the elements of water, consti- 

 tute by far the largest part of all plants. 

 As the carbon forms the Avoody fibre, it is 

 evident that the growth and increase of all 

 trees and plants must depend on their ca- 



