90 RATIONAL FRUIT CULTURE. 



which can be obtained from any horticultural firm, should be 

 used for the purpose. It is better than any of the home-made 

 preparations for which recipes are sometimes given, and as 

 the amount required is not large, it is inexpensive. The 

 whole part, where scion and stock are fitted together, should 

 be covered with it, especial care being taken to close with 

 it the open cleft in cleft-grafting. 



FRUIT TREES FROM SEED. 



The question may be asked whether, apart from grafting, 

 it is worth while for an amateur to propagate fruit trees. In 

 nearly every case it is not. A fruit tree takes sixteen or 

 seventeen years from the time the seed is sown to come to 

 bearing. It is true that the time can be much shortened by 

 grafting the seedling on an older stock, but even when the 

 fertilisation of the flowers has been performed with scientific 

 care, the results are very uncertain. The seedling may be 

 a variety which is worth growing and naming, or it may not; 

 the chances are that it will not be; at present we know so 

 little about the forces involved, that the whole thing is a 

 lottery. Now and again we may draw a prize, but for every 

 prize there are ninety-nine blanks, if not many more. 



PROPAGATION BY CLITTINGS AND LAYERS. 



Propagation, by means of cuttings or layers, stands in 

 a different position, for the resulting plants have the same 

 characters as their parents. There are some varieties, such 

 as Manx Codling, which root easily, but many do not. In 

 any case, the process of growing a cutting into a tree capable 

 of bearing a profitable crop is a slow one. A nursery firm 

 might perhaps afford the time, the labour, and the land neces- 

 sary for the purpose, but it is very rarely that an amateur 

 can do so. He had much bettor buy well-grown trees and 

 secure his fruit at once. 



