226 



JOUENAL OF HOETIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GAiU)ENER. 



[ AprU 1, 1869. 



the BDagB till the eap is rising in the spring. In all cases cover 

 over the wounds with grafting wax. 



The grafting of all kinds of trees may be performed in a similar 

 manner to the modes described. There is, however, a sort of 

 grafting which is between grafting and budding, that is of con- 

 Biderable service in supplying defective shoots, and which is 

 commonly used for improving Pear trees. I shall describe it 

 here, as the subject is now in our minds. It is called the 

 side graft, because the scion is inserted in the side of a stem 

 or branch. The scion has only one bud, and that a terminal 

 bud ; according to the object for which it is inserted, a wood or 

 a fruit bud is selected. The scion is cut so as to leave about 

 IJ inch of wood below the bud, the wood is then cut to a fiat 

 wedge on one side, and a thin slip pared off the lower end on 

 the opposite side. Fi[). 10 represents a Pear scion 

 prepared for side-grafting. Then across incision 

 is made in the stock as in budding, or a simple 

 ilap of bark (cut down to the wood) is formed, 

 and the scion is inserted as in budding, and secured 

 by a ligature, (irafting wax should be used to 

 Y-^IW cover over the ligature. This side grafting is 

 generally performed in the spring, at the same 

 time as ordinary grafting, but it may be done in 

 ' iSM '^6 summer. I have found a small and thin chisel 



slipped down the stock so as to raise the bark, a 

 very handy tool for side grafting. This is, perhaps, 

 the easiest of all kinds of grafting. I have used 

 liA^ the Apple for the figures, except in this last case, 



where the scion is a fruit bud from the Pear. 



Yon will have no difficulty in applying these 

 directions to the working other trees, beyond know- 

 ing which are the wood and which the fruit buds, 

 and I need now only cfi'er a few words about the 

 stocks for Pears, Cherries, and Plums. Fibrous 

 Fig. 16. roots near the surface of the ground are those on 

 which the fruit depends, the large deep roots pro- 

 duce wood ; for our purpose we must choose stocks having roots 

 of the former description. 

 '' The best stock for Pears to be cultivated in a portable 

 orchard is the Quince. It makes abundance of fine fibrous 

 roots close to the surface, and by slipping the knife through 

 the bark, and cutting upwards, so as to make a tongue, roots 

 are obtained on portions of the stock wanting them, just as in 

 the Paradise Apple. Care, however, must be exercised in the 

 selection of the sort of Quince, for there are many varieties of 

 it. The ordinary sorts grown for fruit are not good stocks, the 

 best I have seen have come from Angers, and I believe these 

 are the same sort as the stocks used by Mr. Elvers. I mention 

 this because I have had the experience of being supplied with 

 a bad sort, through being tempted to save the cost of carriage of 

 things whose price is much less than what I have to pay the 

 railway company for bringing them from London. 



Free stocks raised from Pear seeds are useful for forming 

 large trees, and also for grafting with those varieties which 

 will not live on the Quince, a rather numerous family. 



The common Whitethorn is an excellent stock for several 

 kinds of Pears. Marie Louise does remarkably well upon it, 

 and Mr. Elvers has lately given the world the useful infor- 

 mation that the Passe Colmar family thrive upon it, Josephine 

 de Malines amongst the number. Many other sorts of Cra- 

 taegus will, no doubt, answer well for Pear stocks, and a wide 

 field for experiment is open amongst them. 



The Mountain Ash seems to offer a way of overcoming the 

 difficulty of growing Pears in peat soil. I can give very little 

 information about it, because I have never eaten a Pear grown 

 upon it ; but I have tried a wide range of varieties upon it, 

 and all are growing without any signs of reluctance. I hope 

 from time to time to be able to communicate to the Journal 

 my experience on this subject. The Mountain Ash is used, I 

 beheve, to a considerable extent in America. 



For Cherries, the common Wild Cherry and the Cerasus 

 Mahaleb seem to be all that are needed, the latter having the 

 dwarfing and rooting properties of the Paradise Apple and 

 Quince. 



Any kind of Plum seems to suit Plums, yet no doubt some 

 sorts are better than others, but I can offer little information 

 here. The common Sloe answers remarkably well with me. 

 Acting on the hint in the " Miniature Fruit Garden," I dug up 

 several one autumn, and grafted them the following spring, 

 and very pretty trees have resulted. It is so great a satis- 

 faction to transform Sloes into Green Gages, that I feel more 

 pleasore in these trees than in almost any I have worked. 



I must now say a few words about double grafting. You will 

 have noticed that I have mentioned the fact, that some sorts of 

 I'eare will not thrive on the Quince, or live on it. Yet it is 

 most desirable to have the Quince root, and this can be effected 

 by grafting the Quince with a sort that thrives upon it, and 

 then one or two years afterwards grafting this variety with the 

 sort that refused to thrive when put directly on the Quince. A 

 very short piece of the intermediate sort is required to be left. 

 At the same time I must warn you, that you will not necessarily 

 obtain Igood fruit by taking any sort that grows vigorously on 

 the Quince as the intermediate stock. It is very strange how 

 this small connecting link affects the fruit ; in some cases it 

 causes a great improvement, but in others just the reverse. I 

 saw at Sawbridgeworth some Seckle Pears double-worked, the 

 intermediate being Vicar of Winkfield, and these Seckles were 

 cle&rly much improved by their treatment. On the other 

 hand, I grafted a Marie Louise on a Seckle, and the Marie 

 Louise is uneatable, though beautiful to look at, far hand- 

 somer than the original from.which the scion was cut, growing 

 only a few yards off. The character of the wood is to a certain 

 extent a guide in the selection, but this is, as I have remarked, 

 just the sort of work for amateurs to follow out. A faithful 

 record of results, good and bad, is sure to be a work of value. 

 No artist is justified in trying e.xperiments with new pigments 

 in his picture ; but if amateurs would use any new colours that 

 artists wish to have tried, writing on the backs of their canvasses 

 the names of the paints applied, the results could not fail to be 

 of value. If the pictures stand, those colours are proved to be 

 safe ; but if they fade away or turn black, the world suffers no 

 loss, and artists will know that these colours must never touch 

 their palettes. In this way amateurs in all subjects may 

 comfort themselves over their failures. 



I will give at the end a list of those Pears which seem to 

 thrive best on the Quince. 



Cherries, again, will not all grow on the Mahaleb stock, and 

 we must have recourse to double working for the class of 

 Bigarreaus and Heart Cherries. The Morello and Duke families 

 grow perfectly on the Mahaleb, so that it is best to bud one of 

 these the first year, and use the shoot from this bud as the 

 stock the year following. — W. Kingsley. 

 {To be continued.) 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



The following prizes are offered for competition at the next 

 meeting of the Fruit Committee of the Eoy.^l Hop.ticultckal 

 Society, on the (jth of April — viz. : — White-spined Cucumber, 

 one brace, of one sort only (open), £1 and 10s. ; Black-spined 

 Cucumber, one brace, of one sort only (open), £1 and 10*-. ; 

 smooth Cucumber, one brace, of one sort only (open), £1 and 

 10,s-. ; six Cucumbers, not confined to one sort (open), £2 and £1. 

 We understand that the terms as above used will be interpreted 

 strictly, so that the rather numerous class of white-spined fruit 

 with black tips can only be exhibited in the fourth class, which 

 may include all the varieties, or only one. 



A KEw part of the JounN.iL of the Eotal Horticdltu- 



nAii Society has just been issued under the able editorship of 

 the Eev. M. J. Berkeley. It contains an admirable paper by 

 the Editor on various forms of canker, a note on the cultiva- 

 tion of the Mangrove tree at the gardens of the Eoyal Botanic 

 Society of London, by Mr. W. Sowerby, and other matter of 

 an interesting character on horticultural subjects. 



The complaint so often made lately of the tardiness with 

 which the Proceedings of the Society reach the Fellows is 

 now removed. Every fortnight a sheet will be issued contain- 

 ing extracts from proceedings, and all Fellows may obtain it 

 on application at South Kensington. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



kitchen gaeden. 

 Wheel manure upon quarters where it may be wanted, and 

 see that there is a good supply prepared for the Celery crop, 

 for without plenty of old rich manure large crisp Celery can 

 hardly be obtained. As soon as the weather becomes warm, 

 plant ont spring-raised CaxiUjloucrs and Lettuces, selecting for 

 them a sheltered situation and light rich soil. A few branches 

 of evergreens stuck amongst them after planting, so as to 

 screen them from the sun, are a great protection, and prevent 

 their being dried-up until the roots take hold of the ground. 

 Continue to make sowings of Peas, Beans, and Turnips once in 



