No. 5. 



Fruit and Fruit Trees. 



67 



limbs. The grafts may safely, as is the 

 practice, be warranted, as they will live; 

 but the natural slock will continue to form 

 the bulk of the top and bearing branches, and 

 the grafts will remain diminutive and bear 

 fruit in proportion. 25 grafts well placed 

 are better than 1U(J placed at random :— 10 

 grafts judiciously placed in a tree of mode- 

 rate size, will change the whole .top in a few 

 years, where 20Q grafts scattered all over a 

 large tree, will not materially change its top 

 or its fruit. 



No person can, therefore, expect to reap 

 any advantage from grafting, unless on small 

 and middle sized trees, and such as are sound 

 and vigorous : all others should be cut down 

 as cumberers of the ground. 



Pruninor and training are much neglected, 

 or very unskilfully done — making trees of 

 uncouth shape and condition. Trees, when 

 hollow, are in a rapid state of decline; they 

 will soon rot down. They are made so, in 

 most cases, by pruning off limbs and branches, 

 leaving stumps on the trees; these rot off, 

 leaving a hole in the tree, which admits wa- 

 ter and soon rots and renders it hollow. Hag- 

 gling off limbs with an axe has the same ten- 

 dency. Pruning should always be done by 

 cutting or sawing off limbs or branches 

 smooth and even with the trunk or main 

 branch from which it is taken. The wound 

 will then soon heal over and be covered with 

 bark, which is prevented by stumps or snags 

 being left, as the bark cannot grow over dry 

 snags. 



■ Success in growing and propagating fruit 

 trees depends, like every other branch of 

 business, on practical skill how to do it, and 

 industry and perseverance in the perform- 

 ance. When you plant an orchard, or single 

 tree, plant sound, vigorous young trees, and 

 no other than those you know to be such, 

 either by having raised them yourself, or, if 

 procured from a nursery, on such person's 

 representations and assurances as you can 

 safely rely. If you are the owner of trees 

 bearing common or inferior fruit, save, in 

 general, none but the sound, small and mid- 

 dle sized, which graft with the best kinds of 

 fruit. Regulate all by pruning so as to form 

 full, neat tops, suitably open to light and air; 

 keep the earth around, and as far as the roots 

 extend, mellow and suitably rich; secure 

 them well by staking or boxing; water them 

 a little in droughts, until they have taken 

 root. 



Having thus given a general view or out- 

 line of the subject, I shall now proceed in 

 detail to describe the method of producing 

 sound, hardy, durable trees, and good healthy 

 fruit, and of making the business successful, 

 agreeable and profitable. 



On the growth and propagation of Fruit 

 Trees, Shrubs and Vi7ies. 



These may be propagated, 1. By grafting; 

 2. By budding or inoculation; 3. By cut- 

 tings and layers , and 4. From Seed. 



SEASONS FOR EACH. 



Grafting must me done in the spring, and 

 may be performed as early as the middle of 

 March, and as late as the first of June. 



Budding may also be performed in the 

 spring after the bark peels freely, with buds 

 of the previous season's growth, or in sum- 

 mer and autumn after the buds of the same 

 season have attained their growth, which is 

 preferable. 



Trees, cuttings and layers must be planted 

 in the fall after frosts and before the ground 

 is frozen, or in the spring after the frost is 

 ,outand before vegetation has advanced much, 

 which is also a proper time for pruning. 



Weed should be planted so late in the fall 

 as not to vegetate but little, if any, or so early 

 j in the spring as to have the advantage of the 

 whole season to grow and ripen in, to with- 

 stand the winter frosts. 



GRAFTING AND BUDDING IN GENERAL. 



Grafting may be performed on most kinds 

 of trees on large or small stocks. Different 

 methods of grafting should be used according 

 to the size of the stock. It may be done in 

 any manner by which the scions and stocks 

 can be united. Those methods most in use 

 will be noticed. Budding will only succeed 

 on small stocks of vigorous growth, irom the 

 size of a yearling shoot to half an inch, and 

 not exceeding about three-fourths of an inch 

 in diameter. 



The apple and pear succeed well either by 

 grafting or budding. 



The peach, apricot and nectarine seldom 

 fail when budded, but rarely succeed by 

 grafting. 



The plum and cherry take without diffi- 

 culty by whip grafting, which is the best 

 method to propagate them ; they may also 

 be propagated with tolerable success by bud- 

 ding (the plum more readily than the cherry) 

 and likewise by cleft grafting, when you suc- 

 ceed in splitting the stick without splintering 

 the wood or injuring the bark, which can 

 seldom be done. 



Grafting and budding, for the most part, 

 can only be practised with success on stocks 

 of the same kind with the bud or scion. That 

 is to say, the apple on apple stocks, pear on 

 the pear, the cherry on the cherry, &c. 

 Peaches, apricots and nectarines may be pro- 

 pagated on each other, and together on the 

 same tree. The apricot succeeds well on the 

 plum, and is more durable than on the stoek 



