412 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



degree, the effects which follow from a single ac- 

 cession of frosty weather. 



So it is in the fields. And if a person skilled in 

 the soils of a given district can make a guess at 

 the time when a given field was laid down to grass, 

 by the depth at which the stones are found beneath 

 the surface, it is partly becasue this loosening and 

 expansion of the soil, while the stones remain fixed, 

 tends to throw the latter down by an almost im- 

 perceptible quantity every year that passes. 



Such movements as these act in opening up the 

 surface soil, in mixing it with the decaying veg- 

 etable matter, and in allowing the slow action of 

 the rains gradually to give its earthy portion a 

 lighter character. But with these, among other 

 causes, conspires also the action of living animals. 

 Few persons have followed the plow without oc- 

 casionally observing the vast quantities of earth- 

 worms with which some fields seem to be filled. 

 On a close-shaven lawn, many have noticed the 

 frequent little heaps of earth which these worms 

 during the night have thrown out upon the grass. 

 These and other minute animals are continually 

 at work, especially beneath an undisturbed and 

 grassy sward — and they nightly briilg up from a 

 considerable depth, and discharge on the surface, 

 their burden of fine fertilizing loamy earth. Each 

 of these burdens is an actual gain to the rich sur- 

 face soil ; and who can doubt that, in the lapse of 

 years, the unseen and unappreciated labors of 

 these insect tribes must both materially improve 

 its quality and increase its depth ? * 



* In the Prize Essays of the His^hland Society (vol. 1. p. 

 191,) the reader will find the testimony of a practical man thai 

 such was in reality the case, as observed by himself on part of 

 his own farm in Roxburgshire. 



NATIONAI4 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 

 AND MOUNT V3SRNON. 



We are happy to notice that the officers of the 

 National Agricultural Society are promptly carry- 

 ing out the objects proposed in one of the resolu- 

 tions passed by the society at its last meeting in 

 Washington. The suggestion, a most happy one 

 we think, was made by the President, Col. Wil- 

 der, whose accustomed eneigy will see its accom- 

 plishment in good time. 



A late National Intelligencer says : — "We learn 

 that Mr. Lossing, the distinguished artist, is at 

 the present moment occupied at Mount Vernon in 

 taking a landscape view of the venerable mansion, 

 and sketching some matters of interest connected 

 with it, including the carved marble mantel, so 

 beautifully sculptured with agricultural subjects. 

 Mr. L. is employed in this duty by the United 

 States Agricultural Society with a view to use his 

 drawings in the designing of an ornamental diplo- 

 ma of membership. The idea is an excellent one, 

 and we are satisfied that the Association could 

 not, within the range of subjects which our coun- 

 try affords, have selected one more ajtpropriate or 

 acceptable to the followers of the virtuous vocation 

 in the pursuit of which the Father of his Country 

 manifested so great an interest, and which he so 

 thoroughly understood." 



INOCULATION— BUDDING. 



The propagation of fruit is effected either by 

 planting the germs, grafting or budding. Cir- 

 cumstances often render it necessary to adopt the 

 first, and this necessity is generally encountered 

 in newly settled regions where stocks and scions 

 are not easily procured. It is also necessary for 

 the nurseryman to sow seeds ; but where one 

 merely aims at securing an orchard — no matter 

 what may be the description of the fruit, he can 

 generally, with little trouble, procure the desired 

 kinds in the immediate vicinity, and at less ex- 

 pense than he could possibly produce them him- 

 self, from seed. In raising trees from seed, no 

 reliance whatever can be placed upon the truthful- 

 ness of the varieties. The seeds of the best 

 russets, pippins, and Baldwins often produce 

 inferior and even worthless varieties. This liabil- 

 ity renders it necessary to graft or bud, upon 

 stocks produced from such seeds, the kinds it is 

 desii'able to propagate. For this purpose grafting 

 is, on several accounts, preferred to budding. 

 Still it often happens that if one was desirous of 

 propagating choice varieties of fruit when grafting 

 cannot be performed, as in the summer season, 

 when grafting is generally supposed to be imprac- 

 ticable, then budding comes to our assistance, and 

 enables us to secure the results and advantages of 

 grafting with comparatively little risk. 



The bud, which, in this operation, supplies the 

 place of the scion, may be considered as an embryo 

 branch, characterized by its own peculiar structure 

 and qualities and individual vitality ; and when 

 detached from its parent limb and set, according 

 to certain rules of art, in a healthy branch, ia 

 Capable of continued growth and a reproduction 

 of its species. The time for performing the oper- 

 ation of budding, is regulated in a great measure 

 by the condition of the tree, and the activity of 

 its circulation. The cherry is often budded in 

 June, but the apple, pear and other similar trees, 

 are generally budded in August and September. 

 One reason why budding has so frequently failed, 

 is, that many attempt it at improper and unsuita- 

 ble seasons, and when the new wood is so far 

 advanced in the process of lignification, as to be 

 incapable of forming or admitting new unions. 

 Buds, however healthy, inserted under such cir- 

 cumstances, cannot, of course, succeed, and dis- 

 grace is brought upon the art when none is 

 deserved. Whenever the bark is found to separate 

 freely from the wood, buds, properly inserted, will 

 always unite and grow, for the cambriura, or new 

 growth of wood, is then at that stage of formation 

 most favorable to secure the inoculation of the bud, 

 and consequently to secure its life. 



On the subject of budding, we have had an in- 

 finite variety of rules laid down by those who 

 profess to be experienced in the business. That 



I 



