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vassKaUBB-jsT- 



46 



(2^t)e iTavmei-'s itloiitl)l« bisitot. 



From llie Western Farmer nnd Gtrdener. 

 On (J rafting. 



[We Ijiive fmind it necessary lo lotive out soinc 

 y.arls of tliis valuable ailicle, not because it was 

 undesirable, but, that we wcro sborteiuii Hir 

 room, and it must eonie into lliis iuhuIjci- iji or- 

 der to be aete<l U|ion tliis year. — Eds.] 



Tlie propagating of trees by graltinj; has been 

 practised Iroin the most remote antie|Uity ; and 

 is an art well worthy the attention of every 

 fanner. 



It would indeed seem, that an art as simple 

 and one fraught with so many ndvantaijes, u onlil 

 not be so niucli neglected, or so little luiiler- 

 stood. 



It is not, it is true, the philosopher's stone, it 

 v.ill not convert into eoW, but by it translbrrjja- 

 tionscun be eflected In nature iiiily astonisliin;r, 

 and hif;hly prolitable. Even the wild Huwllwni 

 is made to produce the most delicious fruit, and 

 rare and choice varieties made lo supplant the 

 most indifferent nnd worthless. Strange as it 

 may ap|iear, while we have a soil of luiexampled 

 ferliliiy, and a cliiU.'Ue so well adaiiled to imrner- 

 ous kiiids of the most excellent fruits, «e may 

 find farms wliich have been opened for fifty 

 years viith scarcely a fruit tree upon them, and 

 if now and then a scatteiing apple-tree is found 

 the fruit is liiile bellcr then the native crab. 



The farmer who now has not an orchaiil of 

 choice grafted fruits, is chargable with the most 

 culpable iieglect. Ind'jed, when we turn our 

 eyes to our lertile valleys, and productive hills, 

 and see the dosiitutiou, which in many places 

 prevails, wa are cmistrained to lament as well as 

 reprobate the negligence. !i would be no diffi- 

 cult m Uler to show, (and it is my purpose at 

 some future lime,) that this mode of cultivation, 

 and this manner of living, has much to do in 

 forming the mind ami morals of a community. 



A graft of one kind, inserted into a tree of 

 another kind, may be regarded as taking root in 

 that tree, for as before stated, the scion preserves 

 its natural purity and idi'iitity, thoii'.-h i;ourish- 

 ed by the wild crab or hawthorn. There is how- 

 ever a limit here. It is often asserted that the 

 fruit can be successfully cultivated upon the 

 forest tree, which has not the least resemblance, 

 I have yet to see the fir.st specimen; I am aware 

 they will start and arow, yet as in an unconge- 

 nial soil, tliey will at length wither and die. 

 Fruits of the same genus, should always be 

 grafted together, seed fruit with seed, and stone 

 w»lh stoiii'. The peach thrives tolerably well 

 ii|)nn the phim and almond of coiiimcrce, Tiie 

 only objection, is in the disi-repancy of the 

 growth. It is best always to graft, the less upon 

 the more vigorous, rather than tiie (contrary. 

 Every one imjst be convinced of this, froin the 

 attempts which have been made to grow the 

 Duke or Kent cherries upon the common stock, 

 VNhich thrive for a short time only. 



13ut I would close this article liy giving a few 

 remarks on grafting, which have been the le- 

 tidt of my own experience; perhaps in nothing 

 new, to experienced horticidtnrisis; yet some 

 of them such as I have not been able to collect 

 (roin any work, or means of information 1 have 

 had itpon the subject. 



There are many modes of grafting, among 

 which are tongue grafting, whip grafting, crown 

 grafting, root graftitig, side grafting, grafting by 

 approach, &c., &c. 



But by far the most common, and in most 

 cases the best is the common cleft, or slit graft- 

 ing. As these various modes are fully described 

 in numerous works, I will not imter into detail. 

 I will only mention a few im[iQrtant points rela- 

 tive to the last nameil. 



This method can bo used on stocks tu' branch- 

 es from half an inch, to two inche.-i in diameter. 



The stock is first to b« carefully headed with 

 a sharp knife. It may be cut hoi izontally, or a 

 little slo])iug; in either case, smoothly. Then 

 a perpendicular slit is to be made, from .•in inch 

 to inch and a hallj with a sharp kniiij or chisel ; 

 next the graft is to be prepared in the form of a 

 wedge, though thicker upon the outer than the 

 intier edge, slioulilered or not as you please. 

 For my own part 1 prefer shouldering, us the 

 graft as often takes at the shoulder as any wIkmv 

 else, and mykes a better joint. As soon as the 

 graft is properly prepared, it should be iiiserled 

 in the cleft in such a manner thtit the inner 

 ;■ rk of both the stock and scion mav cxactlv 



meet, for the very obvious reason that the ves- 

 sels of which the sapwood is composed, must 

 not be separated if a union is lo take place. 

 iMore fail in this ptirticular than in imy other. 

 It' the tree he smidl, it is best to be tied with a 

 ligature, and then covered with clay or pitch. 

 In the grafting of cherry or peach trees, there 

 should lie a bandage of muslin j)nt around the 

 clay or pitch, fiom the tendency of their harks 

 to curl out from the split by exposure to the sun, 

 thereby leaving the graft unprotected, and break- 

 ing its insipient union. 



Many liiil in grafting the stone fruit, and some 

 have gone so far as erroniously to assert that it 

 could not be done snccessfiilly. This is con- 

 trary to iny experience. 1 am sure it can be as 

 successfully perlbrmed n|)on the cherry, peach, 

 and phuiih, as budding, the mode usually adopt- 

 ed with' these fruits. 



Care must be hail in taking the grafts in 

 proper season, which is in February or the first 

 of March, depending much upon the season. 

 The cherry should be grafted in February or 

 March, while the buds are yet in ii perfectly 

 quiescent state. The buds of all kinds of stone 

 fi-uit stood out prominently from the stem. If 

 they have once started, the grafting, while in that 

 slate, is sure to cheek the vegetative process more 

 materially than in the case of seed fruit, where 

 the buds uniformly iittach more closely to the 

 cortica or bark. I am persuaded that in tliis 

 last natned particular, the grand difficulty rests. 

 I have now grafts five or six feet long, wliich 

 were inserted last February, while the ground 

 was yet frozen, and belbre the longest freeze we 

 had. I cropped some trees over five inches in 

 diameter, inserting fiom ten to forty grafts, and 

 in most instances every graft grew ; in so much, 

 that many of them must he lopped off, to give 

 room for the top to grow projierly. I have been 

 no less successful in grafting small trees. 



I believe gp'aftingcan be snccessfiilly perform- 

 ed at any tine during the winter, and it is evident 

 to me it must he done at this time to be success- 

 ful with stone fruits. The grafts must be taken 

 while the buds are entirely dormant, and insert- 

 ed befiire the sap begins to flow, and if then 

 |ierformed with ordinary care, it is believed it 

 will b» attended unitbrmly with success. In 

 this way large trees can be completely renova- 

 ted ; uhich is not easily effected by budding. 

 As to the best method of eftecling this, 1 would 

 recommend as follows. 



Cut away all the spraywood, until the tree be 

 made a perfect skeleton, leaving all the best 

 healthy limbs. Then clean the branches, and 

 lop each branch out some distance from the 

 main stock or limb where it is of most suitable 

 size to graft, and where it will give the tree the 

 best form. Then insert j>rafls in each branch. 

 After uliich keep the tree lice from all stickers, 

 and young shoots, and in this way you may re- 

 claim large apple or cherry trees, provided ihcy 

 are thrifty, giving them at once ii beautifiil and 

 richly fruitlul top, and one which will am|.ly p:iy 

 lor the labor cxjicnded. 



Upon the suhje(!t of grafting, as well as upon 

 many other subjects, we have a great deal of 

 speculation; and many things iisserted which 

 are not Iruti, and many experiments said to have 

 been made, and expedients tried, which depend 

 upon isolated fitcts and hearsay reports, which 

 are calculated to mislead and deceive. It is by 

 bringing together the experience of individuals 

 upon this and other kindred subjects, that our 

 knowledge is increaseil. and the vveltiire of so- 

 ciety is greatly adiaiiced. It is with the humble 

 desire of coiuribuiing something to the common 

 weal, that I submit this iniperlect commmiica- 

 lion for puhlicaticm, in your very valuable paper. 



■ F. G. GARY. 



Pknsrtnl H'dl, Hamilton Co.. Ohio. 



From the New England Farmer. 

 Root Crops— New i^Iethod of planting Potatoes' 



Mr. Editor. — At the sixth agricultural meet- 

 ing at your Slate House, the Hon. Mr. .^Ilen made 

 some very judicious remarks^ as 1 think, upon the 

 cultivation of the various kinds ol' root crops for 

 feeding stock, lie says " the turnip fiimily can 

 be raised with less <;\pense tlcn ;iny other roots 

 within my knowledge." But lie objects to the 

 cullivatioii of the turnip and nita-baga, up<in ac- 

 count of their being great exhausters of the soil. 



Mr. 15. V. French is of the same o|finion. Now 

 there is iiequeiitly a crop ofbngas of from SOO 

 lo 1000 bushels raised u|)on an acre — and wc 

 stiould ex|iect that they would exhaust the soil ; 

 but it is now a received opinion that a large 

 portion of the food of plants is derived from tiie 

 air, in an especial manner by those having large 

 leaves, like the English turnip and baga ; and it 

 is also a settled fact, that if you return to the 

 land ihe crop that htis grown n|)oii it, you add to 

 the fertility of the soil, because you return to it 

 all that has been abstracted by the growing crop, 

 with the addition of that derived li-om the air. 

 From the above reasoning, then, if the crop i3 

 consnnie<l by the fiirm stock, and the manure, 

 solid and liquid, be returned to the turnip ground, 

 it would be enriched ; or if apjdied to some other 

 part of the firm, that is enriched perhaps in a 

 greater ratio that the turnip ground is impover- 

 ished. From some few trials in fijcding cattle 

 through our long winters upon a portion of roots, . 

 Jamsatsfied that their value is not fully appre- 

 ciated by tjinners in the country, even where 

 they never sell a quart of milk. The ancestry of 

 our race of cattle were formed to feed the year 

 round upon green forage — and a peck or two a 

 day of roots, with their dry meadow hay, must 

 be conducive 10 their health and comfort, during 

 winter, and to the profit of tlic liirmer. 



With the highest res|)ect for Mr. Allen's opin- 

 ions on all matters appertaining to the fiirui, I 

 should not have ventured to make any comments 

 upon his remarks, had I not thought they were 

 rather calcidatcd to deter fiirmers ti'om cultiva- 

 ting the turnip liimily of roots, on account of 

 their exhausting qualities, notwiihstauding he 

 thought they might he raised chea|ier than any 

 other roots. If I have taken a right view of the 

 subject, his objections are not of a serious na- 

 ture. 



In ihe N. E. Farmer of Feb. 21, p. 267, you 

 have cr)pied fi'om the Farmer's Cabinet, an arti- 

 cle on the cultivation of potatoes. The writer of 

 the article says: "The object of this essay is 

 ()artly lo give publicity to a method by which 

 the writer is induced lo believe more potatoes 

 could he raised to the acre than by any other 

 method that has come to his knowledge." He 

 gives directions for preparing the ground, &.C., 

 and directs that the seed he dropped in the fur- 

 rows, at the distance of a foot apart; and says — 

 " Admitting the plants would yield an average of 

 tw o ordinary sized potatoes to each — it has been 

 ascertained that 280 middle sized (lotatoes make 

 a bushel — then, as there are 43,500 square feet 

 in an acre of land, and calculating 280 potatoes 

 to the bushel, we have a yield of 311 bushels lo 

 the acre." 



At first view, this looks tolerably fair ; but 

 come to apply the "sober second thought," it 

 alters the case ; for there seems lo be quite a 

 serious objection to this new method, from the 

 quanliiij of seed leqiiireil to plant an acre — for it 

 is the gJMieral opinion that goo(], fair sized whole 

 potatoes should he used for seed. Now, accor- 

 ding to iho above calculation, there are 43,500 

 square feet to an acre, and 280 potatoes to tho 

 bushel, and to plant an acre as he directs, it 

 would on/j/ take the small quantity of 155 1-2 

 bushels of seed to plant an acre: consequently I 

 ;im induced to believe that more potatoes would 

 be required to plant an acre by this method, than 

 by any other that has ever come to my knowl- 

 edge. However, any one having doubts upon 

 the subject, can have them removed by trying 

 this HCte ;?!f</mrf, as I do not learn that there is 

 any patent riidit taken out by tho originator of 

 this important discovery. 



1 read the account of this now method of plant- 

 ing potatoes, to an old stifi-rumped fiirmer, who 

 eschews all agricnltmal papers as "old Sooty" 

 does holy water. He exclaimed," By the liokey ! 

 I guess that is about as good as any of your book 

 fiirming. I don't want any of your new-fangled 

 notions. Let me |irepare an acre of Itind as ho 

 tells of, and plant it the old-fiishioned way, with 

 from ]3 to 20 bushels of seed, and I can raise 

 300 bushels, and save 130 or 140 bushels of po- 

 tatoes, which I can sell this spring lbr33cts. per 

 bushel, \v liicli « ill amount lo a snug little sum 

 in these limes, when fiirm produce is so low, 

 that nothing won't hardly letch nothing." The 

 old farmer thought his argument was a clincher, 

 and I did not dispute him, from tlie fact that j 



