BOOK VII. 



ON THE PROPAGATION OF FRUITS. 



The Apple. 



There are a few sorts of the Apple tribe that will 

 grow from slips or cuttings — such as the Keswick 

 Codlin, Old English Codlin, &c. — and some will come 

 true from seed ; the Ribstone Pippin, for instance, will 

 maintain its true character from the seed. But, as a 

 rule, all Apples must be grafted on stocks ; these stocks 

 maj' be Apple or Crab. If grafted on the Crab, stand- 

 ards should be the object in view ; if for dwarf-trained 

 or bushes, or for tub or pot culture, then they should 

 be grafted on the Apple stock — i.e. stocks two or three 

 years old, from the seed or pips. The pips should be 

 sown in February, in drills two or three inches deep, in 

 a good light soil, and covered with some light material, 

 as cocoa-nut fibre refuse, old tan, old hops, or decayed 

 leaf-mould. At one year old the stocks may be trans- 

 planted if too thick, or they may remain where they 

 were sown if not too thick, and the ground is good : 

 here they may be grafted at one, two, or three years 

 old, close to the ground. March and April are the best 

 months for grafting Apples. 



The raising stocks of either Apple or Crab is the 

 same. The Crabs must be rotted to get the pips out. 

 This is best done by burying them in the ground till 

 the spring ; then take them out, tread them, and wash 



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