1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



499 



For the Netp England Farmer. 



GRAFTING-PLUMS-PEACHES. 



Two years since, I purchased of N. P. Morrison, 

 of Somerville, ((he "apple man" of the Farmer,) 

 scions of the Red Russet and Hubbardston Non- 

 such. Mr. Morrison, who is a skilful and success- 

 ful orchardist, directed me to graft all the stocks 

 that were to be grafted in a tree the first year, to 

 cut out all the old wood that remained the second, 

 and prune ofi" the sprouts the third year. His or- 

 ders have been closely followed, and now, the third 

 season, I find blossoms on trees grafted with both 

 varieties. The Red Russet has made a growth of 

 wood fully equal to the Baldwin, which is a stand- 

 ard of growth and bearing. Mr. Morrison tells 

 me this apple equals in long keeping the Roxbury 

 Russet, and in size, quality and appearance, the 

 Baldwin, which it much resembles. I obtained at 

 the West, and have grafted since my return, several 

 varieties which are new to me. The Twenty-three 

 Ounce apple, which I have heard of only in Illinois, 

 the Tvvenly Ounce, which originated and is exten- 

 sively grown in New York, the Mammoth, Hol- 

 land Pippin and Beauty of Kent, all very large ; 

 the beautiful little Lady apple by way of contrast ; 

 the Northern Spy and Red Astrachan. The Twen- 

 ty-three Ounce is a dai-k green, sweet apple, long 

 keeping, and reaches its maturity or is eatable, the 

 last of winter or first of spring. Specimens have 

 been raised in Illinois weighing twentysix ounces. 

 The Twenty Ounce is a greenish-yellow and red 

 subacid apple, in use from November to January. 

 I am told by those acquainted with it, that it is a 

 great grower and bearer, and that specimens are 

 often raised weighing twenty-four ounces. 



Decidedly the finest apples, as far as appearance 

 was concerned, on the tables of the N. H. Agricul- 

 tural Society at their fair at Manchester, in Septem- 

 ber last, was the Mammoth, raised by Mr. Leverett, 

 of Keene, who received the premium on apples. 

 Aware that beauty among apples, as well as people, 

 was only one of several requisites, I applied to Mr. 

 I,everett for information concerning the Mammoth, 

 and was told that it was superior in quality, growth 

 and productiveness. That it is so in size its name 

 indicates. 



It is an object with me to secure a succession of 

 fruit, which every farmer may do with little trouble 

 or expense. With this object in view, I have graft- 

 ed russetts that keep till the Red Astrachan ripens, 

 about the last of July ; the Bloodgood pear, that 

 ripens in August, succeeded by the Bartlett in Sep- 

 tember, and others before mentioned, and a succes- 

 sion of plums, from the Peach in August to the Blue 

 Egg that hangs till the frost comes. The Canada 

 stock is generally preferred for grafting the plum, 

 on account of its hardiness. It has been supposed 

 the plum must be grafted very early. One of my 

 neighbors grafted scions of the Yellow Egg into 

 a small Canada tree in the latter part of May, when 

 the tree had blossomed and was leaved out, and the 

 second season had a quart of plums from the same. 

 Encouraged by his example I have grafted at the 

 same time, but my success remains to be determined. 

 1 find the low or dwarf training general among the 

 nursery men of New York. They suy they intend 

 to keep their trees so low that they will never be 

 obliged to use a ladder when picking the fruit. 

 Root grafting is prel'erred by them. When the 

 seedling trees are two years old they are taken up. 



the tops cut off and thrown away, the roots cut in- 

 to two or three pieces, and each piece grafted and 

 planted to form a new tree. They cut scions in 

 November, when in the dormant state, and keep 

 them in the cellar in damp moss. In this way they 

 may be kept all the year round. Some of the fin- 

 est of my young trees are victims of the borer, which 

 is committing great depredations in this vicinity. 

 Can the editor or his correspondents suggest a rem- 

 edy? Disbarking is recommended by Cole and 

 others. I have a lot of old rough bark-bound trees, 

 and I should think disbarking a more effectual rem- 

 edy than scraping and washing. It is an experi- 

 ment that I have never seen tried. Will those ac- 

 quainted with the subject give me their experience 

 or observation, through the Farmer, 



I think the statement originated with Cole that 

 most of our apple trees yielded the heaviest crops 

 in even years — 1850, '52, '54, and the lightest in 

 odd years — 1851, '53, '55. This statement has 

 been true in regard to New England, as far as 

 I have known, especially, with our leading apples, 

 such as Baldwin, Greening, &c., until 1855, So 

 true that the grafts of a single Baldwin tree in my 

 neighborhood, which, unlike the rest of its kind 

 produced a heavy crop in the odd year, were in 

 great request, as it was supposed they would derive 

 their habits from the parent tree, but last year this 

 habit was reversed, our orchards were white with 

 blossoms and loaded with fruit, while this season 

 the blow is very small. Can any one explain this 

 phenomenon ? I am told by experienced orchard- 

 ists that west of New England the greatest bearing 

 has uniformly taken place in odd years. 



I believe Cole the best authority on the subjects 

 on which he treats, as his views were derived not 

 from theory alone, but were the result of thorough 

 experience and practical information. I would 

 therefore recommend his Fruit Book to the pomol- 

 ogist as I believe it contains a greater amount of 

 useful information on that subject than any other 

 book of the same size, and would be worth more 

 than its cost in one year to the fruit-grower who 

 owns but one apple tree. G. J. Smith. 



Washington, JV. H. 



For the New England Famier. 



MONTHLY NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Mr. Editor : — I am pleased to h?ar of the gen- 

 eral success, and increasing patronage of the jYew 

 England Farmer. One of the distinguishing ex- 

 cellences of this publication, and one that adds 

 much to its value and usefulness, is its monthly 

 issue. By this arrangement, that part of the pa- 

 per possessing the most permanent value, its agri- 

 cultural department, is put)lished in a monthly pe- 

 riodical, in a form most suitable for binding and 

 preserving. Were all this great amount of infor- 

 mation, so valuable to the cultivators of the soil, 

 comfined to the weekly issue of the Farmer, it 

 would soon be lost for all useful purposes, even if 

 the papers were preserved and bound, as it would 

 form an unwieldly volume, containing a large por- 

 tion of com])aratively useless reading, and being 

 without an index, or at best, a very scanty 'one, 

 where nothing could l)e found when -wanted. This 

 enduring form of the JVew England Farmer 

 sh.;uld, and undoubtedly does give to its corres- 

 pondents, and more particularly to its editor, a 



