NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published every Saturday, by THOMAS W. SHKt'AltU, Rogers' Building, Ooiigrrss Street, Boston ; at $:,50 per aaiu. iu advance, or $J,UO at the close of the vca 



'OI.. 



I. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1822. 



No. li). 



From the American Farmer. 



FRUlt TREES. 



Edgejidd, South Carolhw, Feb. 28, 1822. 

 '' On Savage stocks inserted learn to bear.'' 

 There are lew subjects n)ore deservins'' the 

 altcntion of the Americiin a2:ricultiirist tliaii the 

 art ol' graft iiig', and daw which are more unac- 

 countably nc!(lected. Not only to natural philo- 

 sophers, but to whomsoever the \vorks of natur- 

 alists can impart a charm ; it must be pleasing 

 to know something- of that affinity in the saps of 

 different trees, wliich qualifies one to bear the 

 fruits of many, however widely difloring in 

 sl)ape, size, and llavor. Thus every variety of 

 plum, peach, nectarine, apricot, and almond will 

 succeed well on the wild plum stock. The ap- 

 ple, pear, quince, medlar, service, and haw- 

 thorn, though ditTering with one another, will 

 all agree to grow on the hawthorn, (cn(.'ff»i/.v.) 

 The whole of the Icosandria class appears to 

 discover a disposition to graft on each other. It 

 seems somewhat derogatory to the character of 

 American husbandry, that the third volume ot 

 the Farmer is nearly completed, and notiiing 

 like a lecture has yet appeared, upon an art, so 

 productive of profit and pleasure. However 

 desirable, I do not presume on the present occa- 

 sion, to supply the delioiency here complained 

 of. The very short time since my attention has 

 been directed to the subject, forbids it ; but my 

 zeal in the cause, prompts me to begin, what I 

 hope to see completed by an abler hand. Faith 

 and philosophy appear to agree in the simplici- 

 ty of the origin of all things.* From these prem- 

 ises we might conclude, that previous to all dia'i- 

 ges by accident or culture, all the fruits of the 

 earth might have flourished on one parent stock ! 

 Culture seems to have full as much influence as 

 difference of genus. As the apple and fear, 

 apple and quince, cherry and plum, andeyen 

 the wild and tame cherry, w ill not graft tjgeth- 

 er, although of the same genus ; while the ap- 

 ple and hawthorn, peach and rose will succeed 

 together by grat'ting.t And I have been irform- 

 ed by practical grafters, that many varieties cf 

 cultivated apples refuse to grow on the wild 

 crab stock. Phillip Miller speaks of the wild 

 cherry as a stock lor the tame, but there must 

 be a dilTerence between his variety and that of 

 this country ; or a further change has taken 

 place since his time, as I can assert from repeat- 

 ed trials, both by budding and grafting, that an 

 union cannot be effected. And if there be not 

 more of poetry than truth in Virgil, many trees 

 which claimed kin when he wrote, disown it 

 now. According to this view of the matter, in 

 the ratio that the different genera of trees re- 

 cede from their original condition, will be the 

 difficulty of uniting Ifiem by art. Thus, though 

 Ihe cultivated apple and pear will not graft to- 

 gether, perhaps the wild apple and stone pear 

 might ; scientific gentlemen who have the op- 

 portunity, owe it to philosophy to make the ex- 

 periment. There is something sublime in the 



*See the \vriting:3 of Moses, Linneus, Darwin, &c.i:c. 



t There is considerable diificully in uniting the peach 

 to the rose ; but when done, the growth is as luxutiaat 

 and perhaps more hardy than from its own rojt- 



idea, that the first cause should have left 

 the fruits of the earth in their crude state, to 

 be mellowed by the hand of man ; that in elfec- 

 ling this salutary change, the conceit of his skill, 

 by inciting exertion, should expel his inborn 

 apathy so fatal to his hajipiness and glory. All 

 the instructions 1 have ever seen on gral'tin"-, I 

 know to be very imperfect. The old bungling 

 method of api)lyiiig throe or four pounds ol clay 

 and stone-horse dung to the grafts, should have 

 been long ago exploded.* The solo intention 

 of a wrapper being to exclude the air from the 

 wounds occasioned by the process, a cerate will 

 answer the purpose far better, cheaper and 

 neater : a jiiece of the size of a hazel nut being 

 generally sufficient. And after the gral'ts have 

 made some little progress in uniting with the 

 stocks, the was may be collected for future ojic- 

 rations. 



Almost every publication which I have had 

 the opportunity to peruse, directs one third of 

 turpentine in the composition of a grafting 

 wax ; this though very ductile and pleasant to 

 use, I found certainly to destroy both grafts and 

 •stocks, as far as the wax came in contact with 

 them. From the numerous respectable authori- 

 ties recommending this wax, 1 was very liberal 

 in its application to a number of choice grafts, 

 without suspicion ; but had the vexation upon 

 the first inspection by removing the wax, to 

 discover that a complete mortification had taken 

 place under the wax ; and even extending furth- 

 er in little lines along the grain of the wood. 1 

 separated the dead wood, and with a more friend- 

 ly cerate, regraftcd the surviving buds ivith suc- 

 cess. Whatever may be the innocence of a wax 

 containing one third turpentine in a northern 

 climate, 1 was so well convinced from my trials 

 of its deleterious effects in Carolina, as to re- 

 ject it entirely. After many experiments to as- 

 certain the best composition for a grafting wax, 

 I prefer the following : — One measure of olive 

 oil or hog's lard, 3 do. of melted bee's wax ; 

 mix well while hot, to be worked after it is 

 cool, till sufficiently pliant. Perhaps sweet gum 

 resin might form the basis of a more ductile 

 wax, without imparting a destructive quality. — 

 The following general rule may be observed by 

 the noviciate in the science of grafting. All 

 trees of the same genus, (not greatly altered by 

 art,) will succeed together by inoculation. Those 

 who have the opportunity and inclination to in- 

 dulge in speculations on the production of vege- 

 table hybridst should try trees of the same cla.s? 

 and order, or if differing in this particular, such 

 as discover a similarity in the fruit, leaf, or sen- 

 sible properties of the sap and wood, &c. Graft- 

 ing is performed by making an operation upon 



*See Owen's Arts and Sciences, Miller's Gardener's 

 Dictionary, &c. iic. 



t A vegetable hybrid or mule, is more expeditious'.r 

 produced by grafting different genera than by introca- 

 civg to each other, the blooms of the diflerent sexe,. It 

 is a fact iu vegetable, as well as animal physiology, 

 that all mules are not barren. Thus the peach graft- 

 ed to the rose, though in appearance a complete peacli 

 tree, bears roses only ; nor can it be regrafted to either 

 peach or rose. But the apple on the haw.horn Is as 

 capable of bearing fruit and regrafting as any other ap- 

 ple tree. 



the wood of the stock, to which is attached the 

 cut of a twig from another tree, both wood and 

 bark, with an indefinite number of buds.* Tho' 

 March and April tire the usual months for graft- 

 ing, it may be prutrrcled till I\Iav, and even 

 .lune, perhaps witli belter success t'han earlier ; 

 by keeping tho gitifls in a degree of moisture 

 which, vvill just [irevent their withering. The 

 stocks should not exceed the size of a large 

 goose-quill, but if they are old, select lindis of 

 tho same size ; if there bo none, head dosvn the 

 slock and wait till they come ; the grafts wiil 

 be more neat and vttlnablo for the delay. The 

 twigs should be selectod from a young" hetilthy 

 tree, and t« be as nearly as possible of the same 

 size with tiieir stocks. They should be cut be- 

 fore the buls have begun to swell. 



No otliei instrument is required than a shaqi 

 knife, with sufficient strength to perform the 

 operation ; a wtirm moist day should be prefer- 

 reil. Cut the stock even and smooth, split about 

 half an inch with the knife, cut off a bit of the 

 twig to be grafted, with one or two buds, wedge 

 shaped, ha\ing one edge thicker than the oth- 

 er, fit very exactly tho edges of the wood on 

 the tliick side. Then cover as much of the 

 graft and stock as was wounded in the opera- 

 tion, with ris much grafting wax as will exclude 

 the air. There are other methods of grafting 

 in the wooJ, but the method here laid down be- 

 ing the raoit simple and certain of success, I 

 think it usdess to describe any other. But the 

 season of giafting is somewhat short and pre- 

 cious, whils that of budding is lasting and very 

 certain. Moreover, many trees will bud per- 

 fectly well, '.•:\\w.\i will not grtift at all ; as the 

 mulberry, 4ic. Budding or inoculation is the 

 very simple art of ingntt\ing one free on anoth- 

 er ; by making an incision through the bark on- 

 ly of the stock, sufficient to make bare a small 

 surface of the wood; whJe a little strip of bark 

 containing a single bud of a size corresponding 

 with the incision made on the stock, is fitted 

 exactly and speedily on thi; spot of wood de- 

 prived of its original bark. Although midsum- 

 mer is the usual time allotted for budding, it may 

 be performed with success from the first of May, 

 till the last of September, or even later. I think 

 I have succeeded better in September than any 

 month with such buds as had a sufficiency of sap 

 to peal freely. And to insure success, I will 

 here remark, that both grafts ind stocks should 

 at all times abound with sap. For early bud- 

 ding select a shoot of the preceding year's 

 growth ; but if deferred to the time usaally pre- 

 scribed, (say midsummer) take the best grown 

 shoot of the same year (with good prominent 

 buds,) something larger than the size recom- 

 meniJed for grafting. Cut out a little billet of 

 u ond about an inch long, having the bud in the 

 middle ; now having idaced it on the stock in- 

 * Mided to receive it, mark the bark thereof with 

 the knifo at each end ; thus. JJ iV-r the more 

 ()recise fitting- of the strip of bark to be introdu- 



* I in-sertid some apple graft? about the mii'dle of 

 last Xoveniler, the wounds have partially healtd, and 

 Old as f.tir tf. do well as spring gtaft? — graiting may bg 

 commenced as soon as the budi begin to swell, in springy. 



