208 



Oil Grafting. 



Vol. VIII. 



deep hole, in an old orchard or garden, with- 

 out other preparation. This mode of form- 

 ing or replenishing orchards, was very com- 

 mon both before and since the period alluded 

 to. A person resolves to make an orchard 

 of one of his meadows ; he digs ranks of 

 holes, buys standard trees, puts them in, re- 

 lays the turf, stakes and bushes the stems 

 to keep off sheep, and bids " good speed." 

 The consequence of such a proceeding is, 

 that the trees, from being so carelessly 

 treated, become stunted, and at the end of 

 five or six years, perhaps, are less than they 

 were when planted. We make this obser- 

 vation because we know that the failure of 

 new orchards so planted, was accounted for, 

 and the mismanagement excused, on Mr. 

 Knight's principle, viz. : that the kinds were 

 " worn-out." 



But we know well, that Mr. Knight's 

 ideas respecting new varieties of plants, 

 herbs as well as trees, are not altogether 

 erroneous. We are quite convinced that, 

 in the first years of the existence of a new 

 variety of a plant, it grows with greater 

 vigour than it continues to do after it has 

 become an old inhabitant of any one place. 

 In this opinion Mr. Knight was perfectly 

 right; and it may have happened that many 

 of the favourite varieties of apples being 

 aged trees, presented a simultaneous decay, 

 and so confirmed, while it sanctioned, the 

 suggestion of the president. 



Although it is our own opinion, that dis- 

 ease as the canker, and insects as the Ame- 

 rican blight, may be carried by the graft 

 from old to maiden plants, yet we believe 

 that if a perfectly mature and healthy scion, 

 cut from the top of an old tree, be inserted 

 on a suitable and healthy stock, the future 

 expansion of the graft will be as free from 

 decrepitude, except only from the effect of 

 working, as the first shoot which rose from 

 the original seed. 



We may now allude to other eflccts of 

 grafting. If a strong and rampant growing- 

 kind of tree be engrafted upon a weakly 

 growing stock, the latter will be much en- 

 grossed in the structure of its roots; and if 

 a tree having numerous and attenuated 

 spray, be placed on the same kind of stock, 

 the future roots of the stock will be propor- 

 tionately subdivided and unusually fibrous — 

 a proof that there is an intimate connection 

 between the branches and roots of trees, 

 and that the demands of the former impose 

 their manner of expansion upon the latter. 



We may also notice a remarkable circum- 

 stance which accrues froifi the kindred ope- 

 rations of grafting or budding, viz.: a varie- 

 gated species worked on an unvariegated 

 one, will be accompanied by variegated 



suckers rising from the unvariegated root. 

 This shows to a certainty, that there must 

 be a subsidence of somewhat from the graft 

 to the stock ; but what that may be, is not 

 so easily explained. Mr. Knight and seve- 

 ral other very eminent vegetable physiolo- 

 gists, maintained that no part of the graft 

 ever extends itself down from the point of 

 junction with the stock; indeed this is evi- 

 dent to any one taking the trouble to dissect 

 the parts at any time after the operation is 

 performed. But then the question recurs — 

 what else can convey the discolouration of 

 the leaves and bark ot the graft, to those of 

 the suckers so far below 1 If the variega- 

 tion of leaves and bark be what it is consi- 

 dered to be, namely, an accidental inherent 

 disease — the malady may be extended or 

 communicated by the admixture of the sap, 

 or by a downward contamination of the cel- 

 lular membrane; but whether by the one 

 means or the other, is a doubtful question, 

 although the fact itself is unquestionable. 

 As fi-uit trees are rarely fertile till the vig- 

 our of youth is moderated, and some varie- 

 ties are always too luxuriant to be good 

 bearers, working them upon others of a more 

 diminutive habit, may effect valuable im- 

 provements, whether the strong be inserted 

 on the weak, or vice versa. Double work- 

 ing fruit trees, certainly induces moderate 

 growth, and consequent fruitfulness ; and it 

 is an expedient which is not so much had 

 recourse to, as its unportance to cultivators 

 deserves. 



Root-grafting is often practised, and is, or 

 may be, of great service to the propagator 

 of choice exotics, for which proper stocks 

 cannot be had. A small twig of the head 

 placed on a spare root of the same, may 

 raise another plant, which cannot be done 

 perhaps by any other mode of propagation. 

 — The Gardener and Practical Florist. 



What is actually known, even by the 

 most learned, is still greatly less than that 

 which remains to be acquired. How many 

 questions are there which the practical man 

 may ask, and which the possessor of all our 

 present theoretical knowledge cannot satis- 

 factorily answer ! How many questions sug- 

 gest themselves to the mind of the student 

 in theoretical agriculture, which he records 

 as subjects of future experimental investiga- 

 tion; for which, if time present, he may 

 wish himself to find solutions, or to which 

 he may anxiously wish to persuade others 

 to seek for answers by laborious chemical 

 research ! — Journal of Agriculture. 



Patient industry accomplishes wonders. 

 A little done daily makes much in a year. 



