144 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[May, 



blowing out, are dispensed with, and the scion 

 stands firmly in the hard wood from its first in- 

 sertion, and is able to take care of itself against 

 ordinary winds. 



4th. That limbs can be thus provided when- 

 ever taste or utility may suggest. 



In all other methods of side grafting, I believe 

 the union is attempted to be made only in and 

 under the bark, and such grafts are apt to be 

 blown out, unless time and care are bestowed 

 on them while growing. 



Let me add, that in all processes of grafting, 

 there are great advantages in using short scions 

 — one bud or joint is enough— because there is 

 less surface for evaporation, which is a frequent 

 cause of scions failing to unite with the stock. 



They are also less liable to be knocked loose 

 by birds perching on them, or by other means ; 

 and the nearer the new growth starts from the 

 stock, the less is the leverage for the winds to 

 act upon, and the less the danger of the graft be- 

 ing blown out. 



As an additional guard against evaporation, I 

 always, when waxing the grafts, cover the cut 

 top of the scion with grafting wax. 



During the past winter I have collar-grafted 

 by this method some twenty-five hundred pear 

 and plum stocks, and shall set them out this 

 spring, with hopes of much success. 



I have also in mind some variations of the 

 process which may be improvements, and will 

 be tested this spring and coming summer. 



In cases where the stock or limb to be grafted 

 is more than three quarters of an inch thick, it 

 will be best to set scions in the end of it, by ordi- 

 nary cleft grafting, or by crown grafting under 

 the bark, and at the same time put in scions in 

 the sides of the limb or stock as wanted. These 

 grafts in the end of such large stocks or limbs 

 will be needed to grow over and heal the stump 

 properly. 



[We regard this as one of the best contribu- 

 tions we have received for a long time. The 

 mode is so simple that the only wonder is that 

 it has not been in practice long ago. Perhaps 

 it has, for generally there are plenty of people 

 who know things after other people have told 

 all about them. One thing is certain, this simple 

 plan has never been published. — Ed. G. M.] 



bers, tomatoes, etc. I wish we would add the 

 I fig to the list. General Worthington of Ohio, 

 I who has cultivated the fig in the open air for 

 more than fifty years, says that he grows more 

 of this fruit on the same space of ground than he 

 can of potatoes or tomatoes. 



Your reference to fig culture in France and 

 Germany, (March number, page 79.) is pertinent 

 and timely ; but by my method of planting the 

 trees, the winter protection is made very easy. 



The great thing in growing trees, etc., is to be 

 able to ripen the wood. Unripe wood causes the 

 death of the peach and other trees. Fig wood 

 can be ripened as well as can the wood of other 

 trees. Of course if we cannot have fruits without 

 winter protection, we will want to cultivate all 

 the same. At the far north, grape vines, raspberry 

 bushes, peach trees, etc., have to be protected, 

 and it pays, for the people must have fruit. So 

 then if our fig tree is laid down and nicely 

 covered, no matter how cold, it is not disturbed 

 more than any other sleeper. 



An American gentleman residing at Brighton, 

 England, has sent me the leaf of a fig tree planted 

 by Thos. a'Becket more than 800 years since, 

 and a photographic view of the fig orchard in 

 which this tree is now growing. Well, if in that 

 moist and dark climate figs are grown success- 

 fully, how much more in our sunny climate? I 

 would like to send my pamphlet '' Fig culture at 

 the North a success," three editions, to any party 

 inclosing five cents. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



FIG CULTURE AGAIN. 



BY G. F. NEEDHAM, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



We, at the North, are now growing tropical 

 and semi-tropical fruits, to wit, melon?, cucum- 



Relation between Seeds and Quality.— Dr. 

 Sturtevant finds those melons which have an 

 abundance of seeds to be inferior in eating qual- 

 ities. This does not probably hold good in all 

 fruits. The Rutter Pear which has rarely seeds, 

 is remarkably good when only a few are allowed 

 to bear. When over-bearing, as it usually does, 

 it is a worthless fruit. The inference is that 

 quality depends on something else than the 

 ability to bear seeds. 



Peach Yellows. — It is interesting to note the 

 great progress which has been made of late years 

 in the knowledge of this disease. It is many 

 years since the writer of this paragraph demon- 

 strated that in the early stages of the disease, 

 the roots of the peach tree are covered by the 

 mycelium of a species of Agaricus, a fungus- t& 



