76 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



wood ; ascertained the time and extent of its growth ; 

 and, in short, verified every fact that the book relat- 

 ed. To raise fine, flourishing wood from an old, can- 

 kered, gummy, decayed stem ; to raise as much wood 

 on that stem in three years as could have been raised 

 on the finest young trees 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 Forsyte's treatise, as follow : "Mr. 

 Forsyte's treatise, is well calculated to rouse the care 

 and attention of gentlemen on this side the Atlantick, 

 1o the cultivation and management of fruit trees. The 

 perusal of his pamphlet, London edition, 1791, af- 

 forded him both satisfaction and astonishment. To 

 renovate diseased trees fast hastening to decay, and 

 to increase the quantity and meliorate the quality of 

 the fruit, in the way prescribed by him, seemed al- 

 most incredible. 1 ' But Mr. Y. was induced to make 

 the experiment. Accordingly in May, 1796, he a- 

 dopted the mode of process prescribed by Forsjth, 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 upwards 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 obstructed arid stagnated by the next 

 autumnal frost ; but by the subsequent annual flow of 

 the juices, the callus increased so as to fill the wound- 

 ed part with new wood. The old and new wood 



