FRUITS. 253 



are healed. Too much care cannot be used in these ope- 

 rations. In large trees, a ladder ought always to be at 

 hand, to avoid breaking the limbs by the weight of the 

 operator. If by too close planting the branches of differ- 

 ent trees be brought into contact, thorough pruning is ab- 

 solutely necessary, as without it, good fruit cannot be 

 obtained. 



Grafting and budding. These operations are so simple, 

 and usually so well known by some individual in every 

 farming neighborhood, that no description of either opera- 

 tion is necessary. Grafting wax of the best kind is made 

 with four parts of rosin, one of tallow and one of beeswax, 

 melted and stirred together, then poured into a vessel of cold 

 water. As soon as cool enough, work and draw it out by 

 hand, like shoe-makers' wax, until it is entirely pliable. It 

 may then tee used immediately, or laid up and kept for years. 

 The mode of applying it is known to every grafter. 



Scions must be the growth of the preceding year, and 

 cut from well ripened, thrifty wood, in the months of Janu- 

 ary, February or March, before the buds begin to swell with 

 the flow of the spring sap. Tie them up and keep in a 

 moist, cool place, a cellar bottom, or box of moss or earth 

 till ready for use. When circumstances require it, grafts 

 may be cut at any time after the fall of the leaf, but the 

 months indicated are best in all localities north of lat. 40. 

 The best time for budding is in July and August. This should 

 be done while the sap is in flow and the bark is loose, as at 

 no other time is success certain. 



Selection of trees. Select these from seedlings. Suck- 

 ers from the roots of mature trees are objectionable, as tend- 

 ing to throw up suckers themselves, which are always 

 troublesome. When they appear, cut them close to the 

 root or stem, and if properly done they will rarely sprout 

 anew. 



Planting the seed. If the farmer wish to raise his own 

 trees, he can sow the seed or pomace in rows in the fall. 

 After they come up in the spring, weed and hoe them like 

 any vegetable. When a year old they should be carefully 

 taken up, the tap root cut off and replanted in rows four 

 feet apart, and at least a foot distant in the rows. They 

 should be regularly cultivated till they are one and a half or 

 two inches diameter at the base, at which time they are fit 

 for the orchard. These operations are, however, the appro- 

 priate business of the nurseryman, for whose guidance there 



