NEW ENGLAND FAIiMER. 



Published by JOHN B. RUSSELL, af the corner of Congress and Lindall Streets, Boston— THOMAS G. FFSSF.NDF.M, KniTOR. 



VOL. IV. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MARCH 31. 1B2(J. 



No. 36. 



ORZOIHAI. OOmiMIVNZCATZONS. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW EXGLAXD FARMEF.. 



Ion tbp sn!>jecl. lint uiliioiit detninine: yoti I'ar-Ury part of ihe Inink or limb of iho tifc wilh- 

 i llier, 1 will now (lesr.rihe the dirinner of jierforni- out ampii(atifi2: nr otherwise injurinff if, and 

 j ing' it, and vorv briefly state ivhat I conceive lo ,v;,ere the o'her mode cannot be e^'S'ly pt^rform- 

 be its advanlage' over Ihe ordinary mode ofen- e,]_ |f jj take, ibe necessary pruning may be 

 g:rafting. The instrument liest adapted lo Hie 1 ^ide at any subseqiienl period, and if il fail, ihe 

 purpose, and w hich I have generally made use of! «oiind in the ''arl< is soon closid, ihn tree is not 



NEW METHOD OF ENGRAFTING. 



Ruxbury, March 21, 1826. 



Dear Sir,— Last autumn, Col. J. F. VVi.mcatf. of' in Ihn operalion is a common budilmg knife, Ihe 



Bath informed me ht had practised a new mode of en- { handle of ivbich being smooth and tbin is well 



-rafting, with perfect success; and having recently re- , ''c^iped for scparatmg the bark Irom Ibe wood 



" .. ... ... „ „„,4: 01 the slock; and this is iierUirmec and the 



ceived from him a communication containing a parti- . i ■ ,u„ r n • i 



.,.,,, „„,:„„ :„ I scion inserted in the lollowing manner, namely, 

 cular account of the manner in which the operation IS . .,,.., , ," , ■ , 



, , ,, ^, . I in the first place make a horizontal or Irans- 



Tierformed its advantages, and the results of his expe- ,l , i i i . i ' i-. 



perioruic J, ils ai^i <. 5, , , I verse cut upon the stock or limb to be engralt- 



rimpnl'! I enclose it. with a request that you would 1 , 1 . -, . i- 1 w , 1 



rimenis, 1 eatm-t u, «.l,. n,.j j ! ed, according to lis Size, trnm one hall lo one and 



insert it in the New England Farmer. 



Please to accept the specimen named in the commu- 

 nication. Very respectfully. 



Your most oh't serv'l, 

 U. A. 5. DEARBORN. 



'• Gen. H. A. S. Df.arb )R.\ : 



Bath, {Me.) March 16, 1826. 

 My Dear Sir — in compliance with your re- 

 quest loi a more full account than i have yet 

 given you of the mode of engrafiing, which 1 

 have lately practised with some success, I now 

 furnish you with rather a hasty, and imperfect 

 one; together with my reasons for supposing it 

 preferable lo other modes of engrafting, and to 

 liudding. ir my opinions are erroneous, your 

 skill and experience in horticulture, will enable 

 you to detect their fallacy without the trouble 

 of experiment 



an half inch in length. Then at the left end (ihis 

 being the most convenient) make a perpendicu- 

 lar cut downward (through lo the wood in boll 



di'fitrured, neiiher is it retarded in its growth, 

 nor is tlie qnantiiy of its fruil.if il be in Wenririg. 

 diminished. Thus it may be said to have all 

 the advantages of budding will) (be addilionnl 

 one of prniiocing the new fruit certainly one, 

 and probably two or three years sooner; and 

 further, it may be sui:crs'fully performed at any 

 season of the year wliilo the sap is in motion, 

 and the scions laken from the growth of the 

 same or of the preceding year. Il will l.'C found 

 (00, that Ihe slor.k is less injured, heals more 



cases) about the same lengtl* — take a small chipj readily and etTecltiallv than when split as in the 

 from the bark just above the horizontal line or j ordinary modeofclefl <rrafling. All the branch- 

 cut at the place where the scion is to be fixed, jps of a tree may be removed clean to the trunk, 



ind new ones produced, and any shape or form 

 given to llie tree by the insertion of scions at 

 such places as you please. " And I am certain 

 that they adhere more firmly and are less liable 

 lo injury fror rain or violent winds than those 

 inserted in a dilKTent manner — antf if properly 



deep enough to allow the lower or wedge pari 

 of it to meet and lay close lo the inner bark or 

 sap-wood of the stock. Raise Ihe bark as in 

 budding and separate il sufficienllj' from the 

 wood to receive the scion, which should be 

 genlly pre.ssed into the proper posillon, and 



there secured by slips of bass mats or some olh- 1 ipspried proba'.ly not one in fifty will fail, 

 er soft material wound around the limb or slock On one tree to which I gave an entire new 

 so as to cover Ihe lower part of the scion audi inp last year and which had never before blos- 

 prcss upon the bark of the tree the whole ; eomed, several fine apples were produced and 

 length of the perpendicular cut — after which ijiipened in perfection, although the scions blos- 

 have generally rubbed on a thin coat of engraft- 1 pomed abonl one month later iban the parent 

 iiig composition lor the purpose of excluding Ur^p j I nn;ht perhaps to add that one cause ol 

 My first trial of Ihe mode which I am about! (he dew and rain. That which I have found (|,e s'ucces and exlraordmarv growth of some 

 to describe, was, I think in 1822. ami. may he j „,oii (l„ratdc and efltctual for Ihis purpose is nf the .'cions I have inserted in Ihis way i« donbt- 

 considered rather accidental. Having s"me 1 ^ade of equal parts of rosin, lard and beeswax, j ipcs the severe pruning I have given the trees 

 spare scions of a favorite apple, I amused my-| When cold il may be cut in Ibin slicesas requir-jnboDi the- tj- c they were engrafted. And it 



ed for use, warmed in the hand snificienlly (o ■ ,riay be p?oi>?r to stale that 1 have experiment- 

 apply anil adhere lo the wood. — will yield lo its p,i only urfon apple trees. Although I am aware 

 growth and remain until the wound is enliiely of no reason whv this mode should not answer 

 healed. The scion should be of the usual length, ! equally well on most other kinds of fruit trees, 

 exposing from three lo five buds, the part in-; where budding and engrafting could be success- 

 serted is cut in the wedge form, very much as|fi,!iv performed. I have sent you by the pack- 

 in the ordinary cleft grafting, except that the j pt a specimen of the new mode of engrafting, 

 inner side must be bevelled to a proud edge lo|u|iich is indeed of very extraordinary growth; 

 prevent it injuriously opening the bark of ibe'ibp scion was inserted ihe .')th of September, 

 stock beyond the scion and opposite to the per-' ]821. being Ibe sfrowlh of the same year, the 

 pendicular cut. In some of my early experi-i Ipaves of that soason died and dropped oil", new 

 menis I made a shoulder lo the scion lo rest 1 ones were disclosed, and new buds formed the 

 upon the outside bark of the stock, liut this |»,.,n)o autumn. and the two branches are Ibe entire 

 proved entirely u'eless as the scion invariably i trrnwth of last year, and of the following dimen- 

 first took on the inner part, from the ascending sjons, namely — main branch, I'ne and an half 

 sap, except in one instance in which 1 reversed 

 the scion and inserted the lop downwards, when 

 after some delay it appeared, so far as 1 could 

 discover the adhesion, 10 take from ihe return- 

 ing sap in the outer bark : but as 1 made only a 

 single experiment of this kind and the scion was 

 accidentally removed soon after it had taken, I am 

 inabie lo give you any additional facts respect- 



self by engrat'liug them in a way different lr»m: 

 what 1 had before been accustomed, it is true, 

 with little expectation that they would succeed, 

 or if they did, that they would adhere with suf- 

 ficient firmness to resist an ordinary gale of 

 ■wind. In both respects I was agreeably disap- 

 pointed — Ihey readily took and became firmlv 

 attached to the stock in which they were insert- 

 ed. This induced me to repeat the experiment 

 the following year, and the result has impress 

 ed me with Ihe belief that it is ihe most con- 

 Tenient, expeditious and successful mode of en- 

 grafting. Whether it has heretofore been prac- 

 tised [ am unable to say, but it is not al the 

 present time, so tar as my observation extends, 

 in any of the gardens or nurseries from Maine 

 lo Virginia ; nor am I acquainted with any wri- 

 ters upon horticulture who have described it. — 

 Yet it is so simple 1 can scarcely suppose il ori- 

 ginal with me, but probably has been abandon- 

 ed for some reason, of which from my limited 

 experience and reading, i am yet ignorant. 1 

 have however made enquiries respecting it ol 

 several of our old and most intelligent farmers, 

 gardeners and others, to whom it appeared to 

 have been equally novel. This I trust will al- 

 ford a sufficient apology for my former sugges- 

 tions, and present communication to you relat- 

 ing to it, and with my knowledge nf your sci- 

 ence and experience in pursuits of this kind, I 

 shall indeed be surprised and gratified should I 

 - furnish you with any new or useful information 



leet in length; secondary, four feel and an half 

 — circumference of main branch a! the base 2^ 

 inches, the other somewhat less. 1 have taken 

 off some of the wood of the tree in 1>.; bark, of 

 which the scion was inserted in order that you 

 n^av perceive how firmly and prrfecllv it has 

 united with the main slock, ivhich was a scrub 

 apple tree and in which two or three scions 



ing il which might be either useful or interest- j were likewise inserted in the ordinary mode, 



whose growth 1 think is less than one half of 

 Ihe one sent yon, engrafted in the new way. 

 Your obcd't. serv't. 



JOSEPH F. WINGATE. 



ing. 



I will now stnle what I conceive lo be the 

 advantages ol the prespnt over the ordinary 

 mode of engrafting and of budding. Among the 

 most important I may perhaps say that it can be 

 performed with more ease and with greater fa- 

 ciliu — that the scion takes more readily and 

 grows more rapidly, — that it may be insertedia 



0:5" The scion mentioned above, which is 5J 

 feet in length, al one year's growth, may be 

 seen at the cflice of the New England Farmer. 



