REVERSE BUDDING, &c. 



177 



beyond the chance of failure, all the shoots 

 beloio are carefully pruned away, and the 

 top of the tree aboVe is cut short off, leaving 

 the shoots, from the reversed buds, droop- 

 ing downwards ; and, to prevent them from 

 turning up, which they inevitably would, 

 by the force of the law of nature, they are 

 kept down by means of a hoop, until the 

 branches become firm, hard wood. 



I made some inquiry of Mr. Paxton, of 

 Chatsworth, respecting this process, and 

 found it had long been practiced in Eng- 

 land. 



You are, no doubt, aware that that gen- 

 tleman had transplanted a weeping ash, of 

 gigantic propor'.ions and of the natural spe- 

 cies, conveying it upwards of twenty miles, 

 into the park of his patron, the Duke of 

 Devonshire. It was a question for some 

 time, with many people, whether a tree of 

 such vast dimensions could be transplanted 

 successfully ; but, 



" Heaven sent it happy dew, 

 Earth lent it sap anew, 

 Broadly to burgeon and gayly to grow." 



Mr. Paxton knew what he was about in 

 that, as in everything else he undertakes, 

 from the minutest flower that grows, to the 

 loftiest tree, the largest conservatory in Eu- 

 rope, or the Emperor fountain, which throws 

 up a column of water two hundred and sixty- 

 seven feet, — being considerably higher than 

 the top of the spire of Trinity church, New- 

 York, and leaving all other fountains in the 

 world far beneath it. 



A few years ago, whilst residing at Ge- 

 neva, N. Y., I budded some cherry trees in 

 my garden, in the manner above mentioned, 

 but being my first attempt on trees, (I had 

 succeeded with other and livelier sorts of 

 buds !) very few of them struck ; and I left 

 Geneva before I had fairly tested the ex- 

 periment. 



I spoke on the subject to Mr. Phalen, 

 a nurseryman in Brooklyn, N. Y., last Jul}-, 

 who said he had tried it, and failed; as 

 the twigs turned upwards. But, on inquir- 

 ing whether he had hooped them, he ad- 

 mitted he had not, and that it never oc- 

 curred to him. He immediately set to 

 work, and budded some cherry stocks in 

 the manner I recommended, and has no 

 doubt whatever, that by coopering them 

 they may be converted into weepers. 



Mr. Phalen, however, showed me a spe- 

 cies of natural weeping cherry tree, intro- 

 duced by the late Mr. Pakmentier, but I 

 did not much admire it; the fruit was 

 small, and sour, and the top, although 

 inclining downwards, was rather brushy. 

 Would it not be desirable to try the 

 experiment on other fruits besides cher- 

 ries 1 



Mv anxiety on this subject arises from a 

 great and growing regard in favor of the 

 fair sex ; for, as they were the first who 

 taught man to pluck, I think it is but right 

 that we, in return for that accomplishment, 

 should try to bring these sweet rivals of 

 their lips into nearer proximity, and not 

 expose our far better halves to danger by 

 clambering up ladders, to rend or stain 

 their dresses, and the far greater risk of a 

 fall! 



With reference to this mode of reverse 

 budding, it now seems a little singular that 

 I did not sooner recollect that line of Pope, 

 which has become an universal proverb, 

 almost as much as if it had been written 

 by the son of David himself. Indeed, so 

 scriptural does it read, that a gentleman of 

 my acquaintance once heard the late Rev. 

 Dr. Gardiner, of Boston, preach a most 

 admirable sermon from it. His exordium 

 being — " Dearly beloved, the words of my 

 text are, 



' As the twig is bent, the tree's inclin'd.' " 



