C 225 j 



vantage to be gained in this way, is the affording to a 

 graft from an old tree a more plentiful and healthy 

 food than it could have procured m its natural state ; 

 it is rendered for a time more vigorous, and produces 

 fairer blossoms and richer fruits. But it partakes not 

 . merely of the obvious properties, but likewise of the 

 infirmities and dispositions to old age and decay, of 

 the tree whence it sprung. 



This seems to be distinctly shewn by the obser- 

 vations and experiments of Mr. Knight. He has, in a 

 number of instances, transferred the young scions and 

 healthy shoots from old esteemed fruit-bearing trees 

 to young seedlings. They flourished for two or three 

 years; but they soon became diseased and sickly like 

 their parent trees. 



It is from this cause that so many of the apples 

 formerly celebrated for their taste and their uses in the 

 manufacture of cyder are gradually deteriorating, and 

 many will soon disappear. The golden pippin, the 

 red streak, and the moil, so excellent in the beginning 

 of the last century, are now in the extremest stage of 

 their decay; and however carefully they are ingrafted, 

 they merely tend to multiply a sickly and exhausted 

 variety. 



The trees possessing the firmest and the least 

 porous heart-wood are the longest in duration. 



In general the quantity of charcoal afforded by 

 woods, offers a tolerable accurate indication of their 

 durability: those most abundant in charcoal and earthy 

 matter are most permanent; and those that contain the 



