RAISING YOUNG APPLE TREES. 101 



done till spring, they should be mixed till then 

 with sand, and exposed to the weather. If pomace 

 is sown, it should be mixed with a portion of ash- 

 es, to neutralize the sourness. 



The seeds may be sown in drills from one to two 

 feet apart, and the young plants thinned to three 

 inches apart, A part of them will be large enough 

 to take up for root grafting after the first year's 

 growth. Those less than a quarter of an inch in 

 diameter, may be left another year, and budded the 

 following summer, or grafted the succeeding spring. 



Root grafting is done by the whip method, al- 

 ready described. The young trees are taken up, 

 the tops cut off, the grafts set on, the wounds cov- 

 ered with wax plasters, and then set out in rows in 

 the nursery, to remain until finally removed to the 

 orchard. The grafting is usually performed in the 

 latter part of winter or early in spring, within 

 doors, the grafted trees being packed in boxes, in 

 clean moist sand. The tongue and cleft of the 

 graft and stock, should so firmly interlock, as not to 

 be easily displaced in handling. Wax plasters 

 are often omitted, and adhesion made to take place 

 by growth in a warm place while yet in the boxes ; 

 but the plasters render the operation more sure in 

 all other cases, especially if dry weather succeeds. 

 The root of a young tree may usually be cut into 

 two or three pieces, each of which will support a 

 graft. Unlike larger trees, they suffer no detri- 



