isoith Hemarlcs on budding and grafting it. 207 



Somers's estate. There are .several plants of mistletoe growing 

 on this tree, one of which is of great age, and nearly 5 ft. in dia- 

 meter. It is more vigorous than the plants of mistletoe grow- 

 ing on the apple, probably owing to the greater vigour of the 

 oak, and to its being more shaded in the summer. 



The mistletoe does not form that swelling at its junction with 

 the oak which it does on most other trees. Mr. Moss has 

 a nursery of his own at Malvern, where he intends to try all 

 the experiments on the mistletoe suggested in your Arboretum 

 Britannicum this season ; and will have for sale, next October, 

 plenty of mistletoe plants, grafted standard high. Mr. Moss 

 has hit upon an excellent plan for the successful propagation of 

 the mistletoe for sale, which is, getting young shoots of apple 

 and pear trees on which the mistletoe is established, and graft- 

 ing them in his nursery. I think the first or second week in 

 May is the best time to graft shoots of the mistletoe. 



I have no doubt but the mistletoe may be grafted with suc- 

 cess on the oak ; but, in all probability, the bark of the oak is 

 too hard and dry for the frequent vegetation of the mistletoe 

 seed. I have grafted the mistletoe on the balsam poplar only ; 

 but Mr. Pitt says he has grafted it " on all kinds of trees ; " 

 though he does not recollect having grafted it on the oak. The 

 apple or crab is certainly the best stock for nurserymen to graft 

 the mistletoe on ; the pear is the next best ; then the strongest- 

 growing poplars and willows. It should never be grafted lower 

 than 5 ft. from the ground, nor higher than 10 ft. Most nur- 

 serymen have quantities of standard apple and pear trees, on 

 which they could work these grafts ; and, if there were a demand 

 for the plant, it would be a good way of getting rid of their 

 stock of trees, which they could not do by other means. 



Budding and grafting the mistletoe is very simple : merely an 

 incision in the bark, into which a thin slice of mistletoe is in- 

 serted, having a bud and one leaf at the end. Grafts less than 

 half an inch in diameter may be put in in the same manner ; 

 but, in grafting larger pieces, a notch should be cut out of the 

 branch, the incision made below the notch, and a shoulder left 

 on the graft to rest on the notch, in the manner of crown-graft- 

 ing. AH that the nurserymen have to do is, to insert small 

 scions in the largest shoots of their apple and pear standards. 



About the middle of May is the best time to bud the mis- 

 tletoe. The budding is only a modification of grafting, as you 

 retain a heel of wood below the bud for insertion. I send you 

 now some mistletoe grafts, and will bring more with me when I 

 come to town ; and you may try both. I likewise send you an 

 oak branch with the mistletoe on it. 



Haffield, near Ledbury, March 24. 1837. 



