290 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[April 7 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



NEW METHOD OF ENGRAFTING. 



Icpiveri the luxuriant scion, in the common mode 

 the first will outgrow the last four to one; but 

 I will bet the value of the tree that the latter 



prepared by scraping it smooth, so that the spot 

 may be level and hard where the hive is plac- 

 ed. Cover the top of the hive with a board suf- 

 Mr Editor— In your paper of the Slsfult. 1 "'H produce fruit many years before the lorm- hrjenl to secure it from rain, and lay on some 

 observe an article which has been <Pnt you bv If »''"• The vin/ifi/ of the fcurf, and not lis lux- 1 kind nf weight to keep the covering from blow- 

 Gen. Dearborn, written bv Col. VVingate of ! <iri''nce, is necessary to its fecundity, aided by ^ ing off. The hive thus situated, bugs and ants, 



Bath, respecting a mode of engrailing which 

 Gen. D. calls" ^Yca;" and lately brought forward 

 by Col. Wingnte. 



The object of this paper is not to discus? the 

 point of lis having originated with (his latter 

 gentleman, but to examine some oiher fads in 

 relation to this mode of grafting, which Col. VV. 

 has spoken of in his communicalion. But it may 

 be proper in the outset to stale thai, inserting 

 scions into the sides of branches or stocks of 

 frees, is of long standing, and was in practice 

 >ong before my day, or that of the gentleman 

 who has been so fortunate as to revi.e it. 



1 agree with Col. Wingale that this mode is 

 jireferahle to the common one in practice at the 

 present day, because, by it you avoid making a 

 bad wounil in your tree, that will seldom heal 

 without canker, if (he branch is much larger 

 than the scion ; and of course the graft is al- 

 ways liable to be dislodged bv violent winds. — 

 Col. VVingate states what he conceives to be 

 the adv ' i iges of this over the orduiary mode 

 of grafting and budding; and amon; the most 

 important he meiilions that it can be performed 

 with more ease ; that the scion lakes more 

 readily and gropes more rapidly ; that it may be 

 inserted into any part of the trunk )r limbs of 

 the tree where the other mode caniot be easi- 

 ly jierlormed ; that if the graft fail the tree is 

 neither di«tigured, nor in any wise injured, but 

 is left still in a bearing slate. He then adds— 

 "thus it may be said lo have all tte advantages 

 of budding, with the additional one of pruduc- 

 insr the new triiit, certnin/i/ one, and probably (a-o 

 or thrct years sooner." 



I agree with Col. Wingate in most of his facts, 

 but I doubt exceedingly if the extraordinary 

 growth of this slioot was owing to the mode of 

 grafiing. With him 1 should altribute its 



a due degree of nourishment. I &c. will not disturb the bees ; and the bees will 



The real advantages of Col. Wingate's mooe j increase, multiply and swarm, as often as those 



of budding or grafting, whichever you may |5p,,t jq the bee house. When the bees swarm, 



please lo call it, are [place the new hive on the ground as above 



Firs; — That you need not, and ought not to slated. I have frequently set the hive undeF 

 cut off the old limb until the new scion is firmly tlie same tree where I hived the bees, 

 set and well grown; and when it is cut, as the ( Late in the fall of the year, take the hives 

 scion is placed on the top ot the lateral branch : reserved to be kept through the winter, put 

 the part lo he removed may be taken off by an I ihem in the bee-house, and secure them in the 

 under ciiti,- and of course the wound is not expoi- , usual manner. I have managed m3' bees in this 

 ed to imbibe moisture, and may be healed read- i way 5 or 6 years, and have not lost a hive that 

 ily the first summer it is taken off, without ann 1 1 «el on the ground. It is possible that an old 

 injury to the tree. jhive, already occupied by some of those millers 



Sccojidlij — A scion maybe inserted into an , "f grubs, may still be molested by them, anil 

 old branch where the bark is too thick to re-i'he swarm destroyed. Last year I made a new 

 ceive a bud. lirial, as I had not seen any of the bee-moths for 



Thirdhi—k scion thus inserted is less liable ^i year or two, and for this purpose,! let one 

 to be torn out by high winds than one inserted hive of bees remain in the beehouse, and 1 dis- 

 in the common mode, owing to the latter's being covered the millers very plenty on the hive, 

 liable lo canker, and is, in branches larger than through the summer; and in the fall I examin- 

 ilself, held by the connexion formed wilh itf' I"'' ''>e hive, and there were but very few bees 

 outer bark only. ! '"i ''> ""'' "" honey ; but the millers and grubs 



Fourthly — It may be inserted into any part of| *efy numerous. And in those hives which were 

 Ihe tree," and in several places of the satne"^P! »" the ground promiscuously in my garden, 

 branch if you wish it; and is more sure to sue- ! 'here was not a miller or ?>ub to be seen. 



ceed if properly set, because it has a larger sur 

 face of the scion placed in contact wilh the snp 

 wood. 



Col. Wingate's mode of grafting may be; 

 adopleil for all the seed fruits in the spriiiir & 

 fall. But I apprehend that for slurte fruits, (t 

 those trees that are subject to gum, late in th( 

 summer, or earl}' in the fall, will be found mofi 

 advantageous. 



I could add some further observations in re- 

 ply to other parts of Col. VV'ingate's slatement, 

 but perha[)P I have said loo much alread}', and 

 will only add that I feel much obliged to that 

 gentleman lor reslnring an old, and I think a 

 strength to ihe "■ severe pruning'''' veh'ich he gave i most excellent mode of propagating fruits by 

 the tree about the time it was grafted. There 'I'f'"? grafiing, on large trees, wi bout injury 

 is no reason, that I can see, why a scion of /"our I to the parent stock; and if 1 understand his mode 

 or five buds applied to Ihe alburnum of Ihe stock ^ o' operation rightly, I think it a betier one than 

 or branch, should grow stronger than a scion ofj was formerly adopted for the same object. 1 

 o?ie hud ap[)lied in Ihe same manner; for ihis ' have no hesitation in saying that I think the 

 mode of grafting is nothing more or less than U'^'ntnun'ty owe much to Col. Wingale for hav- 

 inoculalion. In one case a scion with one bud '"s persevered in, and brought lo perfection a 



DAVID CHANDLER. 



is inserted, (which is frequently done wilh the 

 wood attached to il) while in the other it is a 

 scion of three or four buds. But admitting that 

 this is the "fact, and that Ihe growth is very 

 touch increased, as in the case mentioned by 

 Col. W.— is there any advantage in this? is il 

 (rue that the fecundity of a tree, or the branch 

 of a tree, is in proportion to Ihe rapidity of ils 

 growth? I have thought niherwise. Neither 

 can r underslaiid how it produces fruit one, two 

 or throe years sooner by ihis mode than by bud- 

 ding. With but little science, and less art in 

 the pursuit of horticulture, I have always un- 

 derstood thai the germ of the fruit must be in 

 Ihe scion, i)r (he bud of the scion which prorlu- 

 ces it. Now if a srioti be taken from a luxuri- 

 ;int «hoot. and inserted into (he branch of a liee 

 liy Ihis new mode : and a bud be taken from a 

 fiuil bearing branch of the same tree, and in- 

 «seT!.'d info another limV of the tree that has re- 



mode of grafiing which may, if properiy attend 

 ed lo, regenerate our orchards, and be the 

 means of removing the present race of unsight- 

 ly and lacerated a[>ple trees that disfigure our 

 country ; and in their place establish a heallliy 

 progeny without 



A DECAYED BRANCH. 

 April 1, 1826. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLAND FARMtR. 



METHOD OF PROTECTING BEES FROM 

 THE BEE MOTH. 



South Iladlcy, March 30. 1826. 

 Having made several experiments to secure 

 bees from the ravages of Ihis destructive inse,-|, 

 I am fully sali-fied that the following mode is 



far iireferable to any that I have adopted. 



Take the hive from Ihe bee house about the 

 first of Way, set it in some place ou the ground 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE HEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ON FRUIT TREES. 



Mr Fessenden'. — In your N. E. Farmer of the 

 third lilt, you publi«lied a Communication frum 

 ihe Essex Regisler on Grafted Frlit. page 25tJ 

 io which the writer expressed his sorrow at llio 

 prevalence of an erroneous opinion as lo the 

 duration of oil kinds oi grafted fruit. This erro- 

 neous opinion seems to be, that, " every kind 

 of apple and pear must becoQie extinct," that, 

 '• each sort has its infancy, maturity and old 

 age," that, " the scion cannot long survive its 

 parent slock, Sic." 



Observing and practical nurserynien must be 

 pleased to see this error exposed. ' To err is 

 human,' And we look not lor infallibility from 

 our species. Yet. what resjiecl, awe and science 

 are imposed on us little folks, when scienlilic 

 gentlemen bring forward their stalled theories, 

 which look very plausibly on |iaper, but are 

 untenable in practice. It appears to (he writer 

 that the above opinion cannot be literally true, 

 as he has thrifty and fruitful Pearmain, Blue 

 Penrniain, Black Russet, Ribstone I'ippin, Gold- 

 en Pippin, &c. .\pple trees, an. I St (ierinain, St. 

 Michael, Bergamnt, Sugar, Pound, &c. Pear 

 trees and other ancient kinds, as vigorous and 

 likely lo live a century as his oilier trees of ihe 

 same ai,e are. the lops of which grew from sci- 

 ons of modern origin. Nolwilbstanding such 

 unvarying success may be realized wilh some 

 ancient kinds, yet it is evident there are othet 

 sorts, rthich, cannot be successfully ciillivaled. 

 Some fatal disorder preys upon ihem ; and let 

 ihem be grafted into Ihe most Tigorous stocks, 

 still (hey cannot he made lo thrive. And.ilj 

 there are no younger and more thriitv frees o 

 these favorite kinds, from which to fake scions 

 they must be forever lost. 



-As there are usually two extremes to otx 



