FARMERS' REGISTER, 



425 



houses, etc., and purchasing locomotives and cari?, 

 it is a prool thai riiosi ul" the rail-ioad«^ so lar un- 

 dertaken are valuable lines and judicious uiiderlak- 

 ings. it is no doubt, in some cases, inconveni- 

 ent to the stockholders of such ol' them as are 

 obliged to appropriate their receipts towards car- 

 rying out their original tscheme, or lo extensions o( 

 it, to be deprived temporarily ol" their dividends, 

 and this measure must of course have the eHeci 

 of depressing the shares of such of the companies 

 as may resort to it. The course is, however, ob- 

 viously the proper one, where an increasing trade 

 and travel on a rail-road calls (or increased accom- 

 modation on it, the means ibr whicli cannot be 

 found without an issue ol' certificates of stock or 

 bonds of the company at a serious sacrifice. Pursu- 

 ing such a policy, the rail-road companies whose 

 business is increasing must be placed at the earliest 

 period on a solid and secure Ibundalion, and the 

 stockholders, when their improvements have been 

 perlecied and I'ully equipped with motive power, 

 be secured steady and permanent dividends, and 

 much better returns than could have been ob- 

 tained on any other plan. 



OBSERVATIONS UPON THE METHOD OF GROW- 

 ING APPLE AND PEAR TREES BY GRAFT- 

 IIVG UPON THE ROOTS. 



From tlie Magazine of Horticullure. 



Among the most valuable hints which have 

 recently come under my notice, 1 consider none of 

 more importance than those advanced by your 

 correspondent, Mr. Teschemacher, and so ably 

 responded to by yourseltj on a tree communication 

 among gardeners. Gardeners, of all other classes 

 of men, ought to be the last to aim atconcealnent, 

 in any improvement which ihey may eiiect. Mys- 

 tery IS a word which ought to be bdiiished from the 

 gardeners' vocabulary. Horticulture embraces a 

 range so wide, and minutiae; so intricate, that, with- 

 out a Iree communication among its practitioners 

 and amateurs, the most accurate observer end 

 pertevering gardener could, from his own experi- 

 ence, attain but a laint knowledge of a business 

 whose branches are so multitarious, and where 

 the routine of operations embrace so wide a field. 

 Upon this impression, 1 beg leave :o communicate, 

 through the medium of your valuable pages, a 

 system of growing Iruit trees, which, although 

 not possessing novelty, is certainly riot so exten- 

 sively known as its meiils deserve. 



Grafting on the roots of apple and pear trees has 

 long been partially practised ; but f question d 

 there are many nurserymen who have carried this 

 to any great extent. I have had various opportu- 

 nities of testing the practice, and 1 am perliictly 

 satisfied of its efficacy. The stocks Ibr performing 

 the operation in a proper manner, ought to be only 

 a year old. If ihey have been grown in a deep 

 free soil, (which, lor this method, is absolutely 

 necessary,) they will have roots liom six inches 

 to a loot in lengih, of a fusiform shape, and of a 

 sufficient thickness to receive a scion. In the fall 

 ihey are taken up and laid m by ilie heels, in a 

 cellar or other convenient place, until required. 

 A quantity of scions is selected at the same time, 

 \yhich must be carefully assorted and properly tal- 

 lied : these may likewise be placed in a cellar in 



Vol. V1II.-54 



sand, or, failing a good cellar, dig a pit about six 

 feet deep, in a dry situation, place ihe scions in 

 an upright position, covering them nearly to the 

 top with light soil or sand ; place boards over the 

 surface of the pit, leaving a vacuum of ihree or 

 lour feet between the scions and the boards, over 

 which a sufficient quantity of soil is to be put; 

 then cover the whole with rank litter, or such 

 other substance as will prevent the frost from 

 penetrating through the soil ; this will also ensure 

 an easy access to the scions when required. 



Jn the monih of February, if there is much graft- 

 ing to be performed, operations may be com- 

 menced. The woody [)art of the stock is cut entirely 

 away, and the root only used, whicli must be cut 

 into lengths of three or four inches, one root yield- 

 ing frequently three or lour stocks. Grafting is 

 performed in the usual m ^nner, and when the ope- 

 ration is finished, they are placed in shallow boxes, 

 over a layer of rich, light soil, burying the whole 

 grafted part under ground ; they are put in rows 

 across the box, as thick as they can be placed be- 

 side each other ; alter the first row is properly 

 placed, put about two inches of the soil as a sepa- 

 ration between it and the succeeding row, and so 

 on until the box is filled. Several suris may be 

 placed in the same box, only let each sort be per- 

 fectly distinct, and regularly named. When the 

 box is filled, it must be placed in a shaded part of 

 the green-house,* not exposed too much to the 

 sun's rays, — on the back shelves, or under the stages 

 will answer very well for some time, say until the 

 middle of April, when they must be gradually 

 inured to the light and air, until finally planted 

 in the usual manner in the open ground, in the 

 month of May. A perfect union will have taken 

 place, and shoots of those grafted in February will 

 have elongated from three and lour to six inches. 



The benefits derived from this system must be 

 perfectly obvious. The grafting is perlbrmed at 

 a season when little else can be done; the treea 

 are much handsomer than those gralted in the 

 usual manner, and the time occupied in planting 

 out is very trifling, being planted with a common 

 dibble; a good hand will plant several thousand 

 in a day. J have known a nurseryman in this 

 stale graft above one hundred thousand apple 

 trees in a season, and in two years they were 

 handsome saleable trees. 



Yours, very respectfully, 



Alexander Gordon. 



June 21, 1810, 



method of CROPPING ONE QUARTKR OF AN 

 ACRE, AS PRACTISED BY L. VAUGHAN, WIL- 

 LIAMSBURG, L. I, 



From tlie Magazine of Horticulture. 



Being but a tyro in the cultivation of mother 

 earth, I shall confine my reply toyoiircull xofacts, 

 and leave effects to my seniors. You think ihe 

 quantity produced from one fourth of an acre, 

 lur<re ; )el, 1 now see, 1 could have made it larger. 



1839.— Made hills lor egg plants, in each of 

 which I deposited half a bushel old horse-manure 

 — labelled ihn hills to find them again. 



* A common frame will answer wliere there is no 

 green-house, only it will be necessary to shade with 

 mats during the heat of the day, and also to cover them 

 during cold nights. 



