146. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



May 



Grafting Large Apple Trees, 



An Ohio fruit grower gives his experience in 

 grafting large apple trees as follows : 



" Five years ago I saw a piece recommending 

 grafting large limbs near the bod}' and the advan. 

 tages to be derived therefrom. I had never done 

 so before, but thought the plan a good one ; so I 

 went at it without reasoning, and recommended it 

 to others. But in grafting orchards over, and tak- 

 ing notice of the different ways, I have come to 

 the following conclusion : Never graft the whole 

 of a tree that has but few long limbs, when by do- 

 ing so it leaves the rest bare to the hat sun ; but 

 when there is plenty of small limbs for shade, and 

 to draw the sap, I would graft enough to form a 

 new top. Never cut a limb (while grafting,) with- 

 out grafting it, if it can be helped, nor cut a limb 

 or sucker for one or two years after. I have killed 

 and seen a great many good trees killed by cutting 

 the top and letting the sun strike too hot on the 

 remaining limbs. I have seen large thrifty limbs 

 with the bark all off on the top, where the sun hit, 

 and on the under side, while limbs of the same tree, 

 in the shade, were sound. I have grafted in every 

 week, from 'the first of March to the first of June, 

 with about equal success. I use linseed, or the 

 new rock oil instead of tallow for the wax, but not 

 quite as much oil as tallow." 



Another writer in one of our exchange papers 

 says: 



" In regard to the proportion of limbs which 

 should be ingrafted, miich will depend upon the 

 way in which the trees have been pruned before 

 grafting. I should engraft about one-half of the 

 number of the bearing limbs, leaving the remain- 

 der for one year, which will preserve the vitality 

 of the tree better than if all be removed. In graft- 

 ing, care should be taken to select such limbs as 

 will, when grafted, form a top of sufficient expan- 

 sion for the body of the tree. The next spring 

 after grafting, I would remove about one-half of 

 the remaining ungrafted limbs, and the spring fol- 

 lowing about one-half of those still remaining, and 

 the third year after grafting, take out all the na- 

 tural limbs, leaving only the grafts. During the 

 time in which the grafted limbs remain upon the 

 tree, there will be a production of much natural 

 fruit, very much improved by close pruning, and 

 without any injury to the grafts, the tree being 

 much benefitted by a portion of the old limbs re- 

 maining for the time suggested." 



Number of Seeds in a Bushel. 



Finding a diversity of opinion among farmers in 

 fegard to the quantity of seed necessary to stock 



a given quantity of ground, and thinking that some 

 others as well as myself might be curious to know 

 the number of grains in a bushel, and how many 

 would fall on a given quantity of ground, I have 

 made out the following statement, with a tolerable 

 degree of accuracy, by computation, after counting 

 a small quantity of the several kinds mentioned. 



Timothy seed numbers 41,828,360 grains to the 

 bushel, and if sown on an acre of ground would 

 give about six and one-half to the square inch. 

 Would not ene be better than six ? Clover of 

 medium size, what we here call Eastern clover, 

 numbers about 17,400,960 to the bushel, and gives 

 about two and three fourths to the square inch on 

 an acre. Rio Grande wheat fair and plump, num- 

 bers about 559,280 to the bushel, and gives about 

 twelve and three-fourths to the square^foot. Eye 

 numbers 898,880, and gives about twenty and one- 

 half to the foot. H. Briggs. 



Growing Peppermint. 



Few people are aware that' more peppermint is 

 grown in the adjoining county of Wayne, N. Y., 

 says the Rochester " Democrat," and more of the 

 essential oil of peppermint manufactured in that 

 locality than at any other place on the globe. H. 

 H. Hotchkiss, of Lyons, is one of the lai'gest cul- 

 tivators of the plant and manufacturers of the oil 

 in the whole country. His oils command the mar- 

 kets of the world, and bring the best prices in 

 London of any other peppermint oils. He buys 

 large quantities of the oil, of the neighboring cul- 

 tivators, which is refined and bottled by him. The 

 growth of the peppermint and the manufacture of 

 the oil, is a vast source of revenue to Wayne coun- 

 ty. The valley of the Clyde river contains many 

 acres devoted to the culture of this plant. The 

 mode of culture is somewhat similar to the culti. 

 vation of the rice crop, in South Carolina. The 

 plants are usually set upon low ground bordering 

 the river, which is liable to be covered with water 

 during the spring inundations. The plant derives 

 great benefit from the annual overflow. 



The ground to receive the plants is usually pre- 

 pared with great care, and is carefully cultivated 

 the first year. The crop reaches its most vigorous 

 growth and abundant yield the second year. The 

 third season it has nearly covered the ground, and 

 the yield is much less. At the end of this season 

 the old roots are all taken out, and it is replanted 

 in the spring. This process of cultivation requires 

 a vast amount of labor, and is, we are informed, 

 about to give way to anew process, which requires 

 less labor, and makes the crop much more pro- 

 ductive. We learn from Mr. Foster, the station 



