214 



Groftins; and Inoculating. 



Vol. III. 



duced several times in the course of the sum- 

 mer; but on the contrary, where the trees 

 were set in grassy land, or where the culti- 

 vation was nej^lected, our losses have been 

 considerable. We therefore advise, in order 

 to secure the safety of such as have been 

 planted out, either in the last autumn or this 

 spring, to have the ground well hoed round 

 them once a month ; and if it be done every 

 fortnight, it will be still better. The labor 

 will not differ very materially from hoeing a 

 hill of corn. It is worthy of notice, however, 

 that the oftener it is done the easier it is to 

 do — because the soil will be kept loose and 

 mellow. 



" To water trees in that condition may some- 

 times be useful ; but we are not free to recom- 

 mend it very highly. A loamy soil that is 

 much watered soon becomes hard ; the surface 

 is glazed, rendered in a great measure im- 

 permeable to the air, and consequently is no 

 longer capable of affording in dry weather 

 the necessary nourishment to the plant. The 

 sources of its fertility are obstructed. This 

 may be better understood by some of our read- 

 ers, when we state on the authority of Sir 

 Humphrey Davy, that a soil in the greatest 

 degree absorbent, exposed to the atmosphere 

 till it becomes dry to the touch, still contains 

 moisture equal to one-eighth part of its whole 

 weight. This is discoverable by subjecting 

 it to a heat indicated by 300 degrees of Fah- 

 renheit's thermometer. Now all water not 

 chemically combined, but only adhering to 

 parts of the soil, is in constant use in vegeta- 

 tion : and the one eighth part referred to is of 

 this kind. If we estimate common fertile 

 soils however, as containing only one-twelfth 

 part, then in 400 pounds of soil, even when 

 it is dry to the touch, we shall have 33 pounds 

 of water in store for the use of vegetation ; 

 and it is particularly worthy of notice, that 

 such soils wlien deprived of a portion of this 

 by plants, procure a fresh supply by constantly 

 absorbing water from the atmosphere, where 

 it exists in the state of vapor. In effect, a 

 good soil is a perpetual fountain, even in dry 

 weather. 



" From these statements it must be evident, 

 that unless the ground is frequently cultivated 

 and kept mellow, so that bctweeu its particles 

 the air can pass in, the latter cannot impart 

 the moisture which it holds in solution ; but 

 when the soil is freshly broken, minutely di 

 vided, and prevented from conglomerating, 

 these invisible springs are preserved in order, 

 and plants that drink from tliem vvill long re- 

 sist the drought. Let the hoe, then, be freely 

 and frequently used. 



Temperance, open air, easy labor, simple 

 diet, and pure water, are good for a man all 

 the days of his life. 



Grafting and Inoculating. 



Grafting is a mode of propagating varieties 

 of fruit of esteemed quality. Grafts may be 

 cut at any time after the fall of the leaf in 

 autumn, and before the buds begin to swell 

 in the spring. They should be of the pre- 

 ceding year's growth, and are best from bear- 

 ing trees and exterior limbs. They may be 

 preserved by imbedding their larger ends in 

 clay, a potatoe, or in moist earth, in a cellar 

 in winter, or in the open ground, partially or 

 wholly covered, in the spring. Grafts are fre- 

 quently sent across the Atlantic. The great 

 care should be, that they are not kept loo 

 warm or too moist, so that the buds swell be- 

 fore they are wanted for use. The rationale 

 of grafting will suggest the time and the 

 manner in which it should be done. The 

 scion and graft are to be so adjusted that the 

 sap wood of the stock, by which the sap as- 

 cends from the roots, comes in contact with 

 the sap wood of the scion ; and a like adjust- 

 ment must be observed between the inner 

 bark of both, through which the sap descends 

 from the graft to the stock, after it has been 

 elaborated in the leaves. Without the first 

 precaution, the sap will not reach the graft, 

 which will consequently shrivel and die- 

 Without the last, the graft cannot knit or 

 unite to the stock ; for it is the descending 

 sap which forms the new wood, and which in- 

 deed causes the graft to send its roots down 

 into the earth, upon the outside of the wood, 

 but under the bark of the stock. The union 

 can only take place after the sap has begun 

 to circulate in the stock, which is when the 

 buds are bursting. The clay or composition 

 is applied to exclude the drying influence of 

 the air and sun, and also rain, from the wound, 

 until a complete union has taken place. The 

 graft does not become injured by being some- 

 what shrivelled before it is inserted ; but 

 if it appears too much so, it may be bu- 

 ried a few hours in moist earth before 

 used. The compositions used as substitutes 

 for clay are many. A g(K)d one is one part 

 tallow, two parts beeswax, and four parts ro- 

 sin, melted and incorprated like shoemaker's 

 wax. If the weather is cold this will require 

 to be softened by immersing it a time in warm 

 water. A thin layer of this covering the end 

 of the stock and the slit, will suffice. With 

 the addition of a little more tallow, the com- 

 position may be spread upon linen or cotton 

 cloth, when waim, and the cloth cut to the 

 required size for a graft, and applied with less 

 trouble in the form of a prepared plaster. — 

 The different processes of grafting are so 

 generally known that we need not detail them; 

 our object being only to tiirow out such sug- 

 oestion^ as may tend to render the success of 

 the operation more certain. 



