1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



155 



the reader will but reflect a moment, he will see 

 how impossible it is for us to answer business 

 letters from a circle of friends so extended as is 

 that of the Farmer. We have two or three such 

 before us now, and have every disposition to re- 

 ply to them, but it would require some hours to 

 collect the information which they require. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 GRAFTING THE GRAPE VINE. 



Mr. Editor: — Dear Sir — I noticed a com- 

 munication in the Farmer signed "L , Ban- 

 gor," inquiring the best mode of grafting the 

 grape vine ; and as I have not noticed any reply 

 to it, I venture to state my experience, although 

 if your correspondent be, as I suppose him to be. 

 Col. Henry Little, of Bangor, one of the best 

 horticulturists in New England, I might well be 

 doubtful of my ability to give him anything new 

 on the subject. 



I have grafted the grape in the usual mode of 

 cleft grafting, and by boring holes in the stock 

 into which the scions were fitted, and succeeded 

 with both modes — with occasional failures — if 

 the grafting was done at the proper season. This 

 is, perhaps, the most important consideration, 

 for if the scions are set too early, the great rush 

 of sap will drown the scions, so that canker and 

 decay ensues. To avoid this, wait until the vine 

 to be grafted has pushed its first leaves to the 

 size of a dime, or a little more, when the sap 

 will be inspissated enough to form granulation 

 essential to the union of stock and graft. To 

 keep the graft from pushing its buds, bury it in 

 the ground in a cool northern exposure, for if 

 the graft begins to grow before it is put into the 

 stock, it is pretty sure to fail. 



I have found the best mode of preparing the 

 stock to be as follows ; clear away the earth 

 from the stem of the vine, and with a sharp 

 knife make a sloping cut, as in splice grafting, 

 split the stock across the cut about one-third of 

 the distance from the top ; pare the scion as in 

 apple grafting — but not too thin — and place it in 

 the stock, so that the bark of both stock and 

 scion correspond ; cover with a good body of 

 grafting clay, pressed close to the wood, and press 

 the earth carefully but firmly around, leaving but 

 one eye of the scion above the soil. It will still 

 further ensure success if the scion is split, and 

 one part inserted into the stock, while the other 

 part is carried down over the scarped stock to 

 the bark at the bottom ; there should always be 

 a bud at the base of the scion on the outside. 

 This mode is much practiced in cherry grafting, 

 and is probably familiar to your correspondent. 

 Scions may be cut at any time before the sap be- 

 gins to flow — they should have three or four 

 eyes or buds, and if possible, a little of the two 

 years' wood at the base of the cutting. I con- 

 sider this necessary to success. 



I have found it best, when it is practicable, to 

 take up the vine to be grafted and plant again 

 after grafting. If this is done, you may graft as 

 soon as you can get your vines out of ground, 

 and not one in a hundred will fail. 



After all, I do not consider it profitable to 

 graft the vine, unless you wish to cultivate a 



weak growing, but good grape, or a tender grape, 

 which you cannot succeed with upon its own root. 

 In such cases, you can sometimes succeed by 

 grafting on hardy and vigorous vines, but the 

 old root is apt to throw up suckers, and, if you do 

 not happen to observe them, they will rob the 

 graft of its nourishment, and before you are aware 

 of it, it dies, and you have got only your old vine 

 again. 



I entertain the belief, but have made no ex- 

 periments to demonstrate it, that the stock of a 

 vine which ripens its fruit early will quicken the 

 ripening of a later kind grafted upon it. If this 

 be true, it would be a resource in cold latitudes 

 where fine grapes cannot be grown, and would 

 repay almost any trouble in grafting. 



I have only to add that if what I have written 

 above should be of any service to your corres- 

 pondent, it will give much pleasure to 



Yours truly, E. W. Bull. 



Concord, Mass., March, 1859. 



For the Neto England Farmer. 



PRESERVATION OP MANURES. 



When I was a boy, my father and several of 

 his neighbors, who were regarded as good farm- 

 ers, used to keep the droppings of their cattle 

 as thrown out of the barn windows, where the 

 rain fell upon them from the eaves, and worked 

 and soaked them so completely as to remove 

 nearly all the stink. But a different practice has 

 grown up on these farms within the last twenty 

 years ; and nearly all of these owners let these 

 droppings fall into cellars, where they are inter- 

 mingled with muck gathered from meadows an(? 

 swamps, and worked over by swine. In this waj 

 the quantity of manure is increased three-fold, 

 and although it smells a little when handled, this 

 smell soon ceases to be oppressive, because it is 

 believed to be a valuable ingredient of the ma- 

 nure. I think it is called in my children's school- 

 books, ammonia; but whatever it may be, I think 

 the manure none the worse for it. Whoever i y 

 the farm would thrive, must not be afraid of so 1- 

 ing his hands or his trousers. I should just -s 

 soon think of meeting a sweet-scented curri r 

 who worked daily in his shop, as a clean farmer. 

 No man should be above his business, and that 

 business which emits the strongest stink is likely 

 to produce the cleanest chink of dollars in the 

 end. An Old School Farmer. 



Farm Agency. — The Hon. B. V. French has 

 opened an oflfice at 51 and 52 North Market 

 Street, Boston, for the purchase and sale of Farms 

 and Farm Stock, either of Milch Cows, Grade or 

 Pure Blood Durhams, Devons, Herefords, Ayr- 

 shires, or Jerseys. Oxen, Sheep, Swine, Agricul- 

 tural Implements, Seeds, and all that is required 

 to equip a farm or garden, or anything in rela- 

 tion to rural affairs. 



Mr. French has had the most ample experi- 

 ence in these matters, and our friends may find 

 it to their advantage to secure his aid in their 

 operations. 



