THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



501 



have yet seen, that affords to me euch promise as 

 the " sweet scented" or " Bokara clover," which, 

 sliould it come up to my expectaiions, shall he 

 made public lor the benefit of agriculturists. Ill 

 be disappointed, I shall have no cau^c to com- 

 -plain, as I can console myself with having deserv- 

 ed success, and that the failure involved only a 

 small share ol' allenlion to a lew grains of seed 

 presented to me by a (riend, and that I never en- 

 couraged any one to lose lime or money oti its cul- 

 ture. But if it prove to be as valuable as I expt'Ct, 

 it will matter but little whether the plant is in- 

 digenous or exotic — whether it luxuriates on the 

 fertile plains ol'Bokliara, or in the cultivated gar- 

 dens of New- York. 



NEW METHOD OF GRAFTING APPLE TREES. 



From the ConnecUcut Farmers' Gazette. 



Plant the seed in rows at a suitable distance 

 from each other, and the hills say about five leet 

 apart in each row. But one tree should he sulT'ercd 

 to grow in a place. Now when the young tree is 

 sufficiently grown, in the spring of the second or 

 third year, any quality of fruit may be grafted into 

 it in the following manner : First, bend the tree 

 over and obtain for it a firm resting place, either on 

 a block or a board resting on the knee, (alter it has 

 been divested of its branches) and with a stout 

 sharp-pointed knile, pierce holes directly ihrongh 

 the centre of the tree, about five inches apart, into 

 which the scions are to be introduced — leaving 

 above, two or three buds. A trench is then to be 

 dug, in a direct line between the trees, aboiit four 

 inches deep, and the whole tree bent down and 

 buried, leaving the (ops of the scions above ground. 

 In tills new condition, 'the scions become uniformly 

 thrifty young trees, supported and nourished from 

 the buried tree, (rom wh'ch issue, in due time, roots 

 from its entire leni^th. The second year from this 

 operation, the whole parent tree may be dug up, 

 the new growth sawed apart, and transplanted. It 

 will thus be seen that if the tree is five feet in 

 height, ten or twelve young trees, of whatever 

 quality is chosen, may be obtained in this way, 

 whereas by the ordinary method ol grafting, there 

 could be but one, provided the graft lived. The 

 young scion will bear fruit, thus Iransp'anted, in 

 the same time it would had it been grafted into a 

 tree fifteen years old. 



I know not whether this process is new among 

 your agricultural community at the north ; but I 

 have repea'edly witnessed ii in Georgia and Ala- 

 bama, and I have been informed by some of the 

 besthorticuhurists in those states, that it is always 

 successful. Yours, respectfully, 



Henry Lee. 



The foregoing communication of Dr. Lee, de- 

 serves the attention of every farmer and gardener. 

 ^Ed. Far. Gaz. 



TO KILL AVEEDS. 



From Loudon's Gardeners' Clironicle. 

 Is there any manure that will kill weeds? is a 

 question not unfrequently put. Will nitrate of so- 

 da, or nitrate of ammonia, or guano, or urates? 

 That such questions should be asked proves one 

 Vol. X.-63 



thing at least, that there is a general desire to 

 know how to extirpate weeds. We wish we could 

 add that they also indicate some acquaintance with 

 the rudiments at least of vecelable physiology. 



Weeds, like other j)lanls, have each their pecu- 

 liar constiiuiion, prefer certain kinds of food, and 

 perish on the application ol others. We have seen 

 a pound of nitrate of soda administered to a sea- 

 kale plant without visible efleci ; half an ounce 

 would probably destroy a rhododendron. Com- 

 mon stable manure is prejudicial to coniferous 

 plants, and in over-doses will kill them ; an oak 

 feeds greedily upon it. So it is with weeds. Ex- 

 cessive doses of salt will destroy all ordinary vege- 

 tation, weeds included, but promote the growth of 

 asparagus in a most remarkable degree, thus prov- 

 ing itself to be a poison to one plant and a nutri- 

 tious Ibod to another. But salt cannot be used in 

 large doses to extirpate weeds generally, because 

 some, like the asparagus, may flourish under its 

 action, and most crofis will certainly be destroyed 

 by if. Professor Henslow succeeded in destroying 

 moss and weeds on gravel walks, by means ofcor- 

 rosive sublimate, irteen vitriol, and blue vitriol, es- 

 pecially the last. But corrosive sublimate destroys 

 every living Ibrm of vegetation, as well as the 

 weeds; and the two sorts of vitriol have no perma- 

 nent action, encouraging the subsequent growth of 

 many sorts ofplants, and so promoting the vegeta- 

 tion of weeds rather than destroying it. 



In practice, these chemical agents can only be 

 employe^ for tlie destruction of weeds in certain 

 special cases, such as tlie asparagus, which thrives 

 under doses of salt, which kill most other plants ; 

 or as tobacco, which feeds greedily upon quanti- 

 fies of nitrate of soda, which would desfroy any 

 ordinary vegetation. In general, we must looklo 

 other means for ridding ourselves of troublesome 

 weeds, and we shall find those means in industry 

 and coimnon sense. The two separate are good 

 things, but they are better mixed together. The 

 plain and obvious rule is to juill weeds up as fast as 

 they appear, and while still in the stale of seed- 

 lings. Then every plant that is removed is efl'ec- 

 tually destroyed, and leaves no young ones behind 

 it. Any boy, at half-a-crown a week, can be 

 taught to distinguish them ; and if the plan is per- 

 severed in, there will very soon be nothing for the 

 boy to do. Sirict attention must, however, be paid 

 to their thorough extirpation when young ; it will 

 not do to pull up ahiLOst all, and to leave the re- 

 mainder to seed ; lor in that case the labor has to 

 be all gone over again. 



[Our views, in opposition to the dishonest prin- 

 ciple and baneful operation of the law of enclo- 

 sures in Virginia, have been presented to the 

 public so often and so fruitlessly, some years ago, 

 that we have since thought it usi less to urge fur- 

 ther, in this respect, the vain defence of private 

 rights and general intereeis. Our " last words," 

 however, on this subject, are embodied in a report 

 to the Board of Agriculture, on (he 'Obstacles to 

 agricultural improvement caused by govermental 

 regulation," and which we had designed to print 



