180 



JOUaMAIi OF-HOKTICULTUKB AND COTTAOK 0ARI>E1.-ER. 



r March 6, leaS. 



enbJQct because no vere not " nble to show any proob against 

 ita hnrdincMR, " we will uildiico Sir. Itivers as nil uvidviiuu. 



*' Tho romuie de I'arudis soi-uis identiuai with tbo • l)warf 

 Apple of Armenia,' rcl'orred to in the ' Joiinial of the Hurticnl- 

 turnl .Society,' Part 2, Vol. :i, page J 15. It is frfifdintjlij 

 dwarf in its habits, and too tender for this climate, unless in 

 verj' nami :ind drj- soils. Out of 2000 impurtud in 184."i, 

 more tluui liuJf ditd tlie tirat season, and two thirds of the re- 

 mainder the fffllowiii;]:. 'i'hey were jiluiiteil in line fertile loam, 

 fairoiirablo to the growth ol Apples, and uu which tho Doncin, 

 planted the same season, grew with the greatest vi;{our. The 

 same result attended an importation of 2000 iii 18-16." — 

 [Rivers's '* ^iiiUitiirc I'niit Uarden,^' p. 53.) 



Passing on to tho iiucstion whether the Pear scion emits 

 roots when worked upon a Quince stock. Wo received from 

 Mr. Scott three Pears so worked, and apparently four years 

 old ; the junction of the scion with the stock had been about 

 nn inch below the surface. But these afford no evidence that 

 the scion will not emit roots. W'hen the trees are eight or ten 

 years old, and tho diameter of tbo scion then more exceeds tho 

 diameter of the stock, then, if tho junction has been buried 

 from 'A to G inches below the soil's surface, the scion often will 

 emit roofs, and as we have seen tlie roots so emitted, no 

 assertions to the contrary can prevail with us. We do not ask 

 Mr. Scott to admit our testimony ; but to show our readers that 

 we are not without corroborative evidence, 'we add the following 

 quotations: — 



" In the planting, should the ground be moist and rich, I 

 plant the trees at the same depth as they were previously 

 planted and had grown in the quarter ; but if, on tho other 

 hand, it is rather dry, I plant a little deeper, as I find they do 

 better by being so planted, and roots often proceed from the 

 Pear wood as well as from the Quince. — C. B. SAtrsriERs, 

 CtrnarciDi XiirsiTtj, Jfrseij," — {Cottape (jardi'ner, xi., p. 2fi().) 



The late Mr. Errington, one of the most experienced of fruit- 

 gi'owcrs, remarking on that statement said — " Mr. Saunders 

 heads rather low on the stock in order to plant low ; and others 

 call into action the fibres from the graft or bud, as well as the 

 roots of the Quince ; for, as he justly observes, such a course 

 wUl cause libres to protrude." — (Ihirl.. p. 417-8.) 



Tliese are unexceptionable witnesses, but wo have inquired of ' 

 Mr. Fish. Mr. Abbey, and Mr. Kivers, and the following are 

 their replies : — 



" Peau Tkkes on Quince Stocks. — I have several times 

 examined trees and found roots protruded at the swelled pro- 

 tuberance, where stock and scion meet, but not at all so uni- ' 

 formly as to make the rooting a general rule. I regret now I 

 that I did not take that interest in the subject, as to ascertain j 

 what kinds of Pear are most apt to root, when the grafted part 

 is covered with earth to the depth of 2 or 3 inches. Apples 

 will also root from the grafted part in similar circumstances. I 

 — R. Fish, PutliTiiliirliunj." I 



" Apples on the Crab and Paradise stocks emit surface roots j 

 freely, particularly on light gravelly soils. We have some | 

 trees on both stocks that have rooted above the surface, and i 

 they root as freely above as below the junction of the scion and ! 

 stock, as also do Plums. Pears on the same soil also emit 

 surface roots abumlantly, aud nothing will prevent them doing 

 Bo_ providing a bud or eye starts from the part covered with 

 soil, and if a cut be made through the hark down to the al- 

 barnum roots come plentifully from the cut. 



" Mr. Scott, however, obtained no surface roots from plant- 

 ing so deeply as to cover the junction of graft and stock, and 

 we are left to conclude that the jiart of the stock buried will 

 emit roots, but the part ol the graft covered will not do so. 

 Tliis is not conscmant with my experience. 



" In 1.S5'.), I had under my caro some Pear trees on tlie 

 Quince in jiols, and these had a swelling above the junction of 

 the graft and stock, similar to that which is found in most 

 fruit trees when tlie stock does not thicken correspondingly 

 with the graft. They had been worked from H to li inches 

 above the surface of the soil. From the unsiglitlincss of the 

 excrescence, and to obtain roots from the part of the stock not 

 covered, it was decided to plant them out in a border so deeply 

 as to cover tho junction of the graft with the stock. This was 

 done, and the union covered about H inches. The consequence 

 was, that some did root from the lower part of the graft at its 

 junction with the stock, and one )H'Culiarity of these trees was, 

 they did not emit roots from the part of the stock buried. The 

 others rooted neither above on the Pear, nor below on the 

 Quince on the parts newly covered with soil. They were 

 examined annually, and some were found to have rooted both 



from the Ponr and the Qninco parts of the stem buried, but it 

 was not nntil the year 1S(;2, that they all had rooted from the 

 I'unr port of tho Htem buried, with the exception of one, and 

 tliat was Ueurre d'Aremberg, and that had not rooted in 1808, 

 on either tho stock or graft part buried. — (i. Aubkv, Staiutg 

 Hall." 



Since the foregoing was in type, we have been favoured by 

 Mr. Kivers with a communication relatiTC to the rooting of the 

 Pear scion when grafted on the Quince stock, and he says that 

 we are " perfectly correct." We shall puldish his communi- 

 cation next week. It is replete with sound valuable information, 

 not only on Qnince but ParatUse stocks. 



Such an amount of testimony needs no comment, and we 

 now leave the subject ; but, for the sake of the Charity, hope 

 Mr. Scott will pay over his wagered sovereign to the Oardoners' 

 itoyal Benevolent Institution. — Ens. J. or H.] 



THOMSON'S STYITIC TO PRFAENT BLEEDING 

 01'' THE ^"I^E AND IN VINE GU.VFTrNG. 



In the year 1820 I was put in possession of three rather large 

 vineries. I was then very young. Since that date I have been 

 more or less a cultivator and, I may say, devotee of the Vine, 

 and during these years I have been a careful observer and ex- 

 perimenter. Few works were then out, aud gardeners then, as 

 a ride, would sooner mislead on interloper into their profession 

 than afford him any reliable information, so that I was left to 

 my own resources ; but my motto was, aud is — " Nil desperan- 

 dum." I must apologise for this egotism ; but I have merely 

 stated it to show that it is not the fancy sketch of yesterday. 



Bleeding of the Vine with me is an exception, not a rule, and 

 may be easily avoided, with few exceptions — such as having 

 to prune just before the sa)) rises, on account of late-hanging 

 Urajjes, or in eousequenco of unripe wood and some minor 

 causes ; but as there is now a certain antidote to bleeding, I 

 will at once state my humble opinion as to how it is to be 

 avoided. First, prune as early as possible ; secondly, let prun- 

 ing be done when the atmosphere of the house is perfectly dry, 

 or light a firo to make it so, and then keep the atmoajihere 

 dry for a few days at least ; but the longer tho better. Avoid 

 pruning in damp, muggj- weather. I have found the best time 

 for either early or late pruning is when the atmosphere out- 

 side is dry, aud the readings of the barometer are high. In 

 the first instance, if you examine the cuts, in a mouth or two 

 you will find the wounds cauterised, if I may use the term, 

 and you may in many instances cut the ends off with a sharp 

 knife, and for the sixteenth or an eighth of an inch find the 

 wood and pith perfectly dry, or healed ; whereas in the case of a 

 damp jiruuing time, and much damp in tho house afterwards, 

 you will tind the cuts almost green, or, if not green, no particle 

 of dead wood, or contraction of the sap vessels will be seen. 

 Such is my experience in Vines in good health and vigour, 

 aud witli well-ripened wood. With Vines, the wood of which 

 is not well ripened, it is of double importance, as well as with 

 loiig-hangiug Cirapes. 



Now, 1 believe in the old saying — •" There is no poison with- 

 out its antidote ; " and in the bleeding of the Vine the autidote 

 or preventive lies in " Thomson's Styptic," advertised in your 

 Journal, &c. A friend knowing I was fond of trying anything 

 new, sent mo a bottle as a present. I am hapjiy to say that I 

 did not require any for that purpose ; but, considering the re- 

 putation of its inventor. 1 determined to give it a faithful trial. 

 Having some Vines to graft, the sap of which was on the move, 

 1 repruned tho whole length of one rod, some twenty spurs, 

 aud a]>plied tho " Styptic " as it is called, choosing a drv' sunny 

 day, and in no case have 1 lost a drop of sap ; this was about 

 tho 'JOth of .January. 1 have since treated several Vines in the 

 same manner, and with eijually satisfactory results. Upon 

 two or three spurs, it is true, I observed a kind of capsule at 

 the end of the cut sjmr, I opened one, .•\nd by doing so a few 

 drops of sap wore lost ; I waited till next day about noon, 

 when tho sap ajqiears less active, made a fresh cut, and appUed 

 the " Styptic " again with the desired effect. The result to 

 me is, that Vines pruned about tlio proper time and dressed 

 with that composition, will be much bcuetited as far as a cer- 

 tainty of not bleeding with the rise of the sap is concerned, 

 and that Vines may be pruned even a few days before tho buds 

 swell, if carefully dressed with that composition, with perfect 

 satisfaction and success, 

 (iiuftiug Vines is now occupying a good deal of attention. 



