GKAFTIXG LARGE TEEES. 121 



water ; the old bark will be loosened and pushed off 

 by the new formation of bark beneath. 



If the tree is of an inferior or wild variety, the 

 Binaller branches may be tilled with grafts, of which a 

 large number should be set, in order not to prune the 

 tree too severely, and also to furnish it as soon as pos- 

 sible with new respiratory organs. 



GRAFTING LARGE TEEES. 



It is a very common result of gi-afting large trees, 

 tliat after producing an apparently vigorous growth 

 for two or three years, they exhibit tokens of disease, 

 and finally die. 



There is little doubt that this is the result of too 

 great an interference with the structure of the tree, by 

 cutting away nearly all the top in a single season, for 

 the purpose of grafting. The roots prepared by a 

 vigorous top, with an abundance of rich condensed 

 sap, are, in their turn, ready to ofler a copious supply 

 to the top, for elaboration, and oxygenizing by the 

 leaves. 



Thrown back or suspended in the structure of the 

 tree by this severe pruning, the saj) becomes condensed 

 by evaporation, and remains clogging and suflbcating 

 the vital energies of the tree, which makes strenuous 

 efforts to supply itself with the organs of respiration. 



The true method of grafting trees more than five or 

 six years old is, to remove not more than one-third to 

 one-half of the top in one season, and set a very large 

 number of grafts in the limbs, or to dig a trench about 

 the tree, and thus shorten the roots to prevent too large 

 a supply of sap. 



