NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PuWished by JOHN B. UL'?SK1,I., at t he corner of Congnss and I.inHall Strpfts, (Six doors from the Post Oflire') Rostoh — TfTOMAS O. FRSSF.Nni'.N . Edit.) 



VOL. iTl ^ ^ FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 1825. 



No. 47. 



COZVZIWZTJNXOATZONS. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW EKGl.AXD FARMER. 



PRUNING AND GRAFIING COMPOSITION. 



Brtnley Place. Roxbur;/, June 10, 1825. 



Dear Sir, — Several yrnrs sinrp, the Inte E. 



lo grow, and generally bear fruit before olhers 

 from (lie same litnti of older e^rowth. i 



'J'lio clian-jin? of the different kinds of fruit 

 from the same slock, a()pears to be one of the j 

 arcciiui, or secrets, ol" Nature. That the sap ofi 

 a siiiir stock slionld produce sweet apples of a 

 liiferent colour, it appears to me must be effect- 



ba re feel hoed under every mornini^ before siai-risa, 

 is llie bcsi iiKiiiurc for the plants. 



SAMUKL PRESTON. 



PaEBi.1-, Esq. one of onr nin^t dislinj^tiishedhor-f ,] ijy ii,e different shapes of the pores throiiirl 

 liciilltinMs, g:ave me the toIlo« ing- recipe f'>i- j ,vhicli the sap ascends ; if so, the niimoroiis 

 a comi^o^lion lo cover the ivouiuis occasioned .lifferrnt kinds of apples would require more 



by pnmmg trees. 



"■Three pints of tar and one po-nul of bees- 

 ivnv ; — nielf them togetlier and while coolin<^ 

 stir in a pound of red or vdlow ochre." 



This .-idmixture I have ever since n^ed wilh 

 the best effecis, as the wounds occasioned by 

 the removal of limbs or from any other eause, 

 have speedily healed over; without producing 

 rot or decay. Three years since I oonchided 

 to try this composition for grallincr. instead of 

 ciay, and the result was most satisfactorv. I 

 have continued to use it exclusively in afraflin^ 

 apple, [jear, plumb snd cherry Irees ; and three 

 or four .-tciclis can he engrafted ivith this mate- 

 rial, as soon as one can wilh cla^. The woimd 

 !s thus kept completely covered until the wood 

 and bark discs over it. 



The quantity above named I have found would 

 last me a year, and would he enough for mo-ii 

 of our firmcrs. It is always ready tor use, and 

 is applieil with ■» small, flat, round-pointed knife. 

 or wooden spatiiin with great facility. Quito 

 a thin coat is sufficient. 



.\l'ler one year's experience, I am confiJt-nt, 

 that no farmer or cultivator of trees will STer 

 be without his box of this composition, if he 

 has any desire to keep his trees in a healthy 

 and thrifty state, or annually extends the varie- 

 ;y or quantity of his fniit by grafting. 

 Very respectfully, 



Your most obedient serviint, 



H. A. S. DEARBORN. 



10 IKE EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGI.AXD FARMER. 



Stockport, {Pa.) Ji/ricfi, 1C25, 

 Mr Fesscnden — I have noticed (page 329) m 

 your paper, two queries respecting Grafting. — 

 To the tirst, I'rom my long experience and ob- 

 servations, I think 1 can answer correctly. 



That grafting a seedling tree wilh a cion 

 from a fruit bearing tree, generally expe- 

 dites its bearing several years, I have often 

 noticed by grafting a part of the limbs of a young 

 tree. The grafts will bear fruit, some I wo, three 

 or ;our years before the natural branches ; bul 

 this does not admit of any certain rule. Either 

 from the diflerent constitutions of the seedling 

 'rees, or their kind of natural fruit, such as pro 

 liuce sweet apples, generally, bear before those 

 of the same age that bear sour apples. 



1 am very particular in cutting my cions for 

 grafting, — never take more than one off the end 



of A limb, and that of the last year's growth, 



with the bulb between <hem, to shave to set in 



the stock. There the wood is most porous to 



receive the sap from the stock ; and such cions, j for the' benefit of gardening. 



as they are the youngest wood, are most sure it in English is, — That the sweat of a garden 



different shapes and figures than are even des- 

 cribed in Euclid. 



In regard lo the second query, I have no ex- 

 perience ; as it has not been my practice to graft 

 upon uncertainties, to prevent trees from bear- 

 ing. — 



This is the season for gardenin?, and I should 

 like to see the observations of jxentlemen indif- 

 ferent parts of our country, on a variety of sub- 

 jects. 



Formerly my garden used to lip m'lch injured 

 by (he black cut -worm. They used to cut olf my 

 cabbage plants when first set out, until 1 learned 

 that lo wrap a hickory leaf round the stem, 

 between the root and leaves, would [irevenl 

 their touching ihem. For other vegetables, I 

 had no better remedy than to stir the ground 

 oflen, kill uhat 1 could, and depend on the rub- 

 ins' taking them to feed their young. That a 

 robin's nest, in or near my garden, was of great 

 value, I was told by a German gardener ; and 

 ihat the best mode to destroy the cut worms, 

 was to shoot them vvilh a musket. I bad no faith 

 in it, until I tried the experiment, by loading a 

 musket heavilv wilh powder, and, pointing it 

 over the beds where the worms are, fiiinof jf nfl'; 

 the sound kills them. They will roll out on the 

 lop of the ground, and die ; by which means a 

 small expense for gunpowder will clear a garden 

 from all damage by cut worms. 



The next most obstinate en?my that [ found 

 to my garden, was the small iirllme bug, that ale 

 all my young cucumbers and melons. To pre- 

 vent it, I tried several methods without much 

 effect ; and their numliers apparently increased 

 every year, nolwitb^landing 1 annually killed 

 and scalded thousands. ( am now trying Ihem 

 with some new experiments of tny own inven- 

 tion. 



To prevent their eating mv plants, I have 

 boiled up a very strong decoction o( red peppers 

 and tobacco, and put a large table-s[ioonfull or 

 two on each, as they come up ; and that liquid 

 does not appear to injure the plant, and as yet 1 

 cannot discover that the bugs have touched one 

 on which it has been put, although Ihey have 

 eaten up all the others without reserve. 



In order to dwiroy or lessen their number", I 

 build light fires of shavings, &c. in my garden 

 in evenings, in hopes they may fly into them, 

 as many insects will into a candle ; and perhaps 

 from observations both these experiments m»y 

 be worthy further remarks. 



I have heard an awkward rhyme or saying 

 used by the Germans, thai may mean something 



The suhslanoi^ of 

 fr'.f 



TO THE F;t)rroR ok the new England farmer. 



Wilds nf Maine, Jane 3, 1825. 



Dear Sir — The " Queries on Gral'ling," in 

 your paper of the l.ilh iilt. and 3'our remarks on 

 Ihem, have induced me to state some facts, 

 which, if you think they may afford any sati;. 

 factory Folulion to I ho queries, or add any light 

 to the thrnrie? floating on the subject, you are 

 at liberty to use as you Ihink proper. 



In May 1820, I grafted, in seeilling stocks.'. 

 or 4 years old, a number of scions taken I'roni 

 bearing trees; they are now in a flourishing 

 state, but have never yet sliown any blossoms.* — 

 In May iy21, I also grafted scuiie into slocks 

 ivhich had arrived lo a bearing state, and olh- 

 ers into slocks not yet old enough lo bear. The 

 former blossomed the third year, and every 

 year since. The latter have never yet blos- 

 somed. Last year 1 gralled ascjon from a bear- 

 ing tree into a bearing slock ; the scion blossom- 

 ed, but I took off the tdossoms lest they should 

 too much exhaust the scion. This year it has 

 not blossomed. 



This last instance, I think, proves no more 

 than that the oviparous buds, I'ormerJ the pre- 

 ceeding year in the scion, while attached to i|s 

 parent stock, were developed by the sap of lli'^ 

 Ijralted stock, and s.ip[)orts the theory of Darn in 

 on the forpiatiou ol' fruit and leal buds. The 

 Cornier i\i.ince3 indicate at lea^t, that the matu- 

 rity of ihe scion is not ■a.-h.oHy correspondent 10 

 that of the slock from which it was taken, but 

 i< affected in some i-<>giee, if not wholly con- 

 trolled, by the age of the slock into which it is 

 inserti^d. Perhaps, however, these lew instan- 

 ces may not suffice as a basis for positive con- 

 clusions. Other experiments may produce dif- 

 ferent results; and it is only by comparing the 

 results of experiments often re[)eated, that we 

 can arrive at safe practical conclusions. 



Not very remotely connected with this sub- 

 ject is another circumstance, Ihe mention of 

 which may possibly be of use to some brother 

 chip. 



I have observed lately, in several papers, a 

 composition recomiiieiuicd as a substitute for 

 clay in gral'ing, the iiasis of which is Tar. Some 

 vears ago, 1 saw the same article, and being 

 sometimes rather impatient at the tedious pro- 

 cess of making Ihe clay mortar, and applying it 

 with all its appendages of bandage, tow, &.c. I 

 eagerly substituted the Inr. My scions " took" 

 as well as usual — put Ibrih their leaves — and 

 promised nobjj ; but " when the sun waxed hot 

 it melted." Before midsummer the leaves turn- 

 ed yellow — wilted — perished. Of more than 

 iOO scions, not one survived. Upon examination 

 1 found that the tar had entirely penetrated and 

 filled the vessels of the scions. Subsequently I 

 have used a composition of 4 parts rosin, 2 bees 



* .^otes hy the Editor. — From the above, and other 

 notices of experiments in grafting, which we have re- 

 ceived since the publication of the queries alluded to, 



