72 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



book related. To raise fine, flourishing wood from 

 an old, cankered, gummy, decayed stem; to raise as 

 much wood on that stem in three years as could 

 have been raised on the finest young tree in twelve 

 years; to take the rotten wood from the trunk ; to 

 replace it with sound wood, actually to fill up the 

 hollow, and of a mere shell to make a full, round, 

 and solid trunk ; all this seems incredible, but of all 

 this we saw indubitable proof." In the work just 

 referred to, we have the valuable observations of 

 Peter W. Yates, esquire, of Albany, respecting For- 

 syth's treatise, as follow : " Mr. Forsyth's treatise 

 is well calculated to rouse the care and attention of 

 gentlemen on this side the Atlantick, to the cultiva- 

 tion and management of fruit trees. The perusal 

 of his pamphlet, London edition, 1791, afforded him 

 both satisfaction and astonishment. To renovate 

 diseased trees fast hastening to decay, and to in- 

 crease the quantity and meliorate the quality of the 

 fruit, in the way prescribed by him, seemed almost 

 incredible." But Mr. Y. was induced to make the 

 experiment. Accordingly in May, 1796, he adopt- 

 ed the mode of process prescribed by Forsyth, on 

 a young bearing (bonecretien) pear tree, the bark 

 of which, as well as the alburnum or sapwood, and 

 the heart wood, were dead from the ground up- 

 wards about five feet. He cut away all the dead 

 part, leaving nothing but the bark on the opposite 

 side, and applied the composition. The effects were 

 soon visible : the external part of the wound, which 

 composed about one third part of the trunk, was in 

 a few days surrounded by a callus or lip, which 

 continued to increase until the sap-flow was obstruct- 

 ed and stagnated by the next autumnal frost ; but 

 by the subsequent annual flow of the juices, the 

 callus increased so as to fill the wounded part with 

 new wood. The old and new wood united, and is 

 covered with new bark. In many other instances, 

 he made similar experiments on various kinds of 



