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THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



39 



HQETICULTIJRAL. 



Illinois Fruit Cnltwe. 



At the meeting of the Illinois State Hor- 

 ticultural Society held at Decatur ou the 

 l7tli ult., the committee appointed to ex- 

 amine fruits made the foUovring report on 

 the specimens presented by Dr. B. P. Long 

 of Alton: 



Newton Pippin — Has not succeeded well 

 North. Decided true. 



Dr. Long says: Medium productive, 

 slow coming in to bearing; second only to 

 Lady in price; keeps until March. 



President says: Early bearer; keeps 

 without decay until May in cool cellar. 

 Best single variety for latitude of Alton. 



Winter Wine — Distinct from Wine or 

 Wine Sap — deep red; showy; size small. 

 Dr. Long says productive; bears regular; 

 best in quality. Committee say only good. 



Rawle's Janet — True. Dr. Long says 

 enormous bearer: requiring thinning; the 

 most popular winter apple, with proper at- 

 tention in thinning. Committee coincide. 



Gilpin or Small Romanite — Good for 

 ' baking and cider, and will always sell in 



spring. 



Milam Apple — True; great bearer- third 



quality; small. 



Pryor's Red — True ; late fall and early 

 winter; productive; profitable for market. 



Lady Apple— True; late coming into 

 bearing; commands high price in market. 



Winter Greening — Dr. Long says great 

 bearer; does not like it; never ripens well; 

 will regraft in the spring. 



A. and F. Starr of Alton, presented: 



Newton Pippin — True. 



Gilpin, Lady Apple, Rawles Janet, also 

 Pennock or Big Romanite — True, worthless. 



White Belleflower — True; very good. 



King of Alton — Worthless. 



Red Canada — True; President says best 

 e|fly winter for latitude of Alton. 



Baldwin Apple — True; variable; at the 

 North winter; very good; fall at Alton. 



Wine Sap — One of the most valuable 

 winter apples; quality best; very productive 

 throughout the State; hardy. 



The following remarks upon the subject 



of grafting, may be of benefit to some of 

 our readers, and will interest all. 



Grafting the one year old Mazzard Cher- 

 ry. — This operation, as described by Hon. 

 M. L. Dunlap, differs from the ordinary 

 mode of splice grafting in the more perfect 

 manner in which it is effected. With a 

 sharp knife sever the stock with a smooth 

 sloping cut upwards at such point as will 

 exactly correspond in size with the graft, 

 and a similar slope downwards on the scion; 

 place the two together so as to make a per- 

 fect fit; then with a strong linen thread pre- 

 viously secured to a button hole in the vest, 

 take the end of the thread in the right hand 

 and proceed to bind very firmly the graft 

 to the stock, holding the scion and stock 

 with the left hand to prevent slipping; hav- 

 ing tied the ligature, or rather having drawn 

 the end of it down between the graft and 

 j stock, which has been left a little ©pen at 

 the top to receive it, with a brush apply a 

 thin coating of wai'm wax to exclude air and 

 moisture; this coating of wa^j being very 

 thin, is sufficiently transparent to admit of 

 seeing the union of the stock and graft; 

 they will generally be found to have united 

 when two or more perfect leaves are formed 

 on the graft; it will then be proper to cut 

 the thread, which, up to this period, held 

 the stock and scion in contact. The more 

 perfect success of this style uf grafting stone 

 fruits, particularly the cherry, over the or- 

 dinary modes hitherto practised, is attribut- 

 ed to the close contact in which the parts 

 to be united are held, ftid to the partial 

 obstruction of sap along the edges, causing 

 the parts to cicatrize in a few days. This 

 kind of grafting was practised extensively 

 the past spring on year old stocks in the 

 nursery rows by Messrs. Dunlap and Ells- 

 worth, their loss not exceeding one per cent. 

 In answer to a call, Dr. Hull stated that 

 grafts of the peach embracing a portion of 

 the two year's old wood could be success- 

 fully inserted, either in the peach or plum 

 stocks by cleft grafting, thereby making it 

 practicable to send grafts of new and de- 

 sirable sorts to distant places for spring use 

 The current year's shoots when large and 



