124 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



he sawed off the trunk, some five or six 

 inches in diameter, and inserted several 

 Bartlett grafts, which grew* and made a 

 good top. But he would not follow the 

 plan in apple orchards unless the trees 

 were very thrifty. Another method is, 

 to bud the sprouts which are thrown up 

 around the larger limbs, which soon make 

 good tops. The great difficulty in top 

 grafting old trees was, that it always made 

 more or less unsound and rotten wood 

 where the limbs were cut off. 



Col. Hodge said it was a new idea to 

 him, cutting pff large limbs. He thought 

 that the. wood would be too tender and 

 entirely unsuitable for grafting on. Al- 

 though he was not a nurseryman, he liked 

 the plan of setting out new trees, and 

 always intended to keep setting them out 

 as long us he lived. The idea sometimes 

 entertained that a nurseryman's interest 

 was different from that of people in gen- 

 eral, was, he thought, entirely wrong. He 

 had yet to find a more intelligent, honor- 

 able or high-minded class than that of 

 nurserymen. 



B. Fish thought that there could be no 

 general rule for grafting old trees — if they 

 were young, and had been properly pruned 

 there would be no difficulty * if they were 

 old and diseased, he would not do it. 

 There was one other consideration, — after 

 the first three or four years, the young 

 trees were growing better each year, 

 while the old trees were growing worse 

 continually. 



P. Barry thought that the method ex- 

 plained by L. Barber had a great deal of 

 common sense and reason to rerommend 

 it, and was the best explanation of the 

 rationale of grafting old orchards that he 

 had ever heard. But still he could not 

 advise persons to graft old trees after they 

 had commenced declining. Perhaps for 

 the first twenty years it would be a good 

 plan. 



L. Barber said that in general the per- 

 sons for whom lie grafted, cultivated the 

 ground for a few years afterwards. He 

 had never experienced any particular .in- 

 jury from the decay of the- large limb 

 which he cut off, and had never known 

 a tree to die in consequence. In these 

 perilous times from grubs and mice, he 

 thought it a good plan to save the old 

 trees. — Country Gentleman. 



HARROWING AND DRESSING WHEAT 

 IN SPRING. 



"As Boon as the ground is dry enough to ad- 

 mit a team to pass over it and not treading it 

 up, sow to each acre four quarts of clean clo- 

 ver seed ; then with a pair of horses and a 

 thirty-tooth harrow, go over it twice in a place; 

 after which prepare the following composition 

 for each acre: three bushels of good wood ashes, 

 one of plaster or gypsum, and one of fine salt, 

 and apply it as fast as you go over with the 

 harrow. The five bushels to the acre, all sown,- 

 will not cost over one dollar, and, on the aver- 

 age of seasons, will give five bushels of wheat 

 to* the acre more than land not so dressed; and 

 the clover will take much better, so that the 

 following year the clover will yield a third 

 more on the same ground. Let this be the 

 course for ten years, and whoever tries it will 

 not complain of the lands failing in wheat. — 

 A. Y. Chronicle. 



IMPORTANT* IF TRUE. 



To secure cattle from male or female pro- 

 geny at will. — According to an article in 

 the Annals of the Luxemburg Agricultural 

 Society, communicated by a Belgian far- 

 mer, a heifer calf is invariably produced 

 when the cow is put to bull before milking, 

 and a male calf when the cow is put to 

 bull just after she has been thoroughly 

 milked. The author of this statement 

 claims to have proved its accuracy by four 

 years experience, and asserts that the plan 

 has succeeded beyond all expectation. — 

 Co'ws, which previously had borne only 

 male calves, and that for four or five years, 

 gave heifer calves by the above treatment. 

 Give it a trial. [Country Gentleman. 



This has long been stated by Mr. French, 

 of Braintree, in this state, who raises some 

 of the finest cattle among us, and who is 

 a careful observer of this and similar phe- 

 nomena. [New England Farmer. 



The above has been ' going the rounds" 

 for some time. There are more mysteries 

 in regard to the origin of sex than 4hat 

 philosophy explains. The Belgian farmer 

 had proved the idea by four years experi- 

 ence! If he had gone on four years more 

 he would probably have found that he 

 knew nothing about it. As to the testi- 

 mony of Mr. French, he informed us a 

 short time since, that his later experience 

 had completely upset all his previous con- 

 clusions on the subject. The notion is not 

 of modern origin. We knew the practice 

 "long time ago," and it was even then 

 proved to amount to nothing. [Eds. Bos- 

 ton Cultivator. 



