18 



GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 



In grafting it is essential to adapt the bark of the scion 

 at its extremity to the bark of the stock, and to place the 

 scion on the northerly side in order that it may be less ex- 

 posed to be withered and dried by the sun. Budding 

 should be performed with the same care as in other fruit 

 trees in order to insure success. But these and many of 

 the modes of improving and propagating the mulberry 

 which have been resorted to in Europe, will be unne- 

 cessary in this country. With us, land is so cheap and 

 labor so high, that the easy and convenient mode of pro- 

 pagating by seed will be chiefly resorted to, and no es- 

 sential permanent advantage will result to us from graft- 

 ing or budding, except in propagating^the rare varieties. 



PRUNING. 



The imperfections in the form and growth of the trees 

 may be remedied by a judicious pruning, once in two 

 or three years ; and with regard to that, the good sense 

 of every cultivator will direct him how to form a tree the 

 most beautiful, as well as the most productive. June is 

 the best season for doing this, and the young branches 

 that are taken off will afford their leaves for the 



* For taking off the small branches oHarger trees which could 

 not be reached by hand, I saw an ingenious contrivance at Balti- 

 more by G. B. Smith, Esq. It was nothing more than a pair of 

 pruning shears attached by one of the handles to a ten foot pole, 

 which is held in one hand, and operated upon by means of a cord 

 passing through a pulley, and attached to the other handle with the 



