42 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



* yellows ' before. Probably it has 

 come about because those who have 

 suffered are chiefly among those who 

 have no regard for those who are 

 ' fungus-mad,' and who are quite sure 

 that nothing is known regarding the 

 disease. For our part we regard the 

 successful experiments of Mr. Miller 

 as entitling him to a wide appreciation 

 by his fellow-cultivators." 



CARE OF SCIONS OF THE STON E 

 FRUnS. 



A student came to me to-day with a 

 copy of the Rural and directed my at- 

 tention to your advice to E. K. T. in a 

 late issue. Said he :■ — ■" Our class notes 

 say pack all scions in dry forest leaves." 



The subject is worthy of more atten- 

 tion and careful experimentation than 

 it has yet received. An experiment 

 like the following will be conclusive : — 

 Pack away a bundle of cherry .'^cions in 

 November in moderately moist moss in 

 a moderately moist cellar. In January 

 use these for putting up say 500 root 

 grafts. At the same time and with the 

 same roots put up 500 grafts with scions 

 of the same variety packed in Novem- 

 ber in dry leaves in a box in the same 

 cellar. Set by the same man in similar 

 soil, it will always happen that the 

 stand will be from twenty to fifty per 

 cent, better with the dry scions. If the 

 scions be used for top-grafting or crown- 

 grafting in the open air the difference 

 in the stand will be far greater in favor 

 of the diy scions. 



My attention was first called to this 

 subject in Mai-ch, 1870. The cherry 

 scions I was using in top-working were 

 cut in November and kept in the cellar 

 in quite dry moss. They were nice 

 and plump, with a show of callousing at 

 the base. I was sure they were in fine 

 order, yet less than five per cent, of 

 them grew. The same day it happened 

 that I put in a dozen or more scions re- 

 ceived by mail from the old homestead 



in New York. These were so dry that 

 the bark was shrivelled, and I only ex- 

 pected to save the variety by the pos- 

 sible growth of one or two specimens ; 

 but they all grew. Since that time I 

 have experimented largely with the 

 stone fruits, and am certain that the 

 scions should be kept as dry as is safe. 

 In ail cases — unless the scions be scarce 

 and valuable — they are thrown away if 

 they show the least trace of the start- 

 ing of a single bud or of callousing at 

 the base. 



The principle involved is the reverse 

 of our attempts to graft the cherry 

 after the water coming up from the 

 roots has commenced to change the 

 starch of the cell structure of the stock 

 into sugar water. If we expect a uni- 

 form and satisfactory union of scion and 

 stock both must be in dormant condi- 

 tion. The scions of the apple and pear 

 do not absorb water so readily ; yet 

 with these I have known many poor 

 stands to result from the use of water- 

 soaked scions. — Prof. J. L. Budd, m 

 Rural New Yorker. 



AMMONIA FOR FLOWERING PLANTS 

 AND STRAWBERRY PLANTS. 

 A writer in the London Gardeners' 

 Chronicle says : — Last year I was in- 

 duced to try an experiment in chrysan- 

 themum growing, and for this purpose 

 purchased one pound of sulphate of 

 ammonia, which I bottled and corked, 

 as the ammonia evaporates very rapid- 

 ly. I then selected four plants from 

 my collection, putting them by them- 

 selves, gave them a teaspoonful of am- 

 monia in a gallon of water twice a 

 week. In a fortnight's time the result 

 was most striking, for though I watered 

 the others with liquid cow manure, 

 they looked lean when compai'ed with 

 the ammonia watei-ed plants, whose 

 leaves turned to a very dark green, 

 which they carried to the edge of the 

 pots until the flowers were cut. As a 



