338 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



Currants Dropping-. 



•753 Sir, — Can you tell what makes the fruit of currant bushes drop off the strings, 

 leaving only three or four berries to a string? Chas. P. Morgax, Truro, N.S. 



(Reply by Pro/. Craig.) 

 Try a dressing of an artificial fertilizer containing potash and phosphates 



Grafting" Plums and Pears. 



751. Sir, — Please explain how I can get stumps for grafting with plums and pears, 

 and what is the best kind. When should the grafts be cut, and how should they be saved ? 

 How do you make grafting wax ? R. C, Orangeville. 



Seedling stocks for grafting on are either purchased at about one year old, 

 or raised by sowing either plum pits or pear seeds, as the case may be. For 

 whip grafting these are brought in-doors in the autumn, and kept in green saw- 

 dust in a cellar not too dry. For top grafting the young trees are usually allowed 

 to grow up until they nave a trunk one or two inches in diameter. The follow- 

 ing, by Josiah Hoopes, is well to the point : 



There is no mystery about this operation. The principal point to bear in 

 mind is that all cions must be cut before the sap has commenced flowing. The 

 stock of almost all trees is better for being in a growing state, that is, at a season 



when evidences of growth may be ob- 

 served by the enlargement of the buds 

 and a slight effusion of sap when a cut 

 is made through the bark. Although 

 sometimes successful, the operation 

 ought never to be delayed until the 

 stock is in full leaf. Experienced 

 grafters will insert cions even if the 

 bark should be somewhat shriveled, 

 for, to use a popular saying, " they are 

 hungry," but the fact is, that the circu- 

 lation of the sap induces a granulation 

 at once, and the union of the stock and 

 graft is the quick result. 

 Cleft or wedge grafting is useful on large subjects, as growing trees, say, 

 from one-half to one and a half inches in diameter. This is one of the oldest 

 and best methods, and consists in merely sawing off the stock, splitting it down 

 a short distance and inserting a wedge-shaped cion in the cleft. Of course, this 

 should be tied tightly and securely waxed to prevent the entrance of air and 

 water. The cleft should not be too long or the sides will not clasp the graft 

 tightly. It is desirable to have the bark of both stock and cion exactly corres- 



FiG. 827. — Clkft Grafting. 



