171 



I have often :,rlo(I tr grow seedlings from it but it 

 always resulted in producing the ordinary straight 

 variety, showing tha^t., in this instance, it is not a 

 species, but an accidental form, that can only be 

 perpetuated by gratfing. The Purple Beech, on 

 the contrary, 1 Scxn satisfied is a species, as it repro- 

 duces itself in most instances. 



[We give wrth thi.^ a drawing of a beautiful speci- 

 men of the Weeping Beech, now twenty-five feet 

 high, growing on the grounds of D. D. Buchanan, 

 Reid's Nurseries, Elizabeth, N. J. It was from 



Mr. Ileid himself that we had the statement that 

 BeedheL "£rom seed, produced only copper-leaved 

 n Is, — the richest purple colors can only be fully 

 mat^itained by grafting."— Ed.] 



GRAFTING GRAPE VINES. 



BY MR. F. G. FOSTER, RALEIGH, N. C. 



I see in the February No. of Gardeners MontJi- 

 h/, a communication from Dr. J. Staym.an, of 

 Kansas, on Grrafting the Grape. I hope he will 

 pardon me for saying that I have been much di- 

 verted at his manner of Grrafting the Grape, not 

 at its impracticability, but at tha trouble and ex- 

 pense of his mode — the elbow travelling just to 

 reach a thumb. Look at his investment, "a shoe- 

 makers knife, a sJiarjj pen-knife, a small iron wedge 

 (of such a width, and for a certain purpose) a strong- 

 poiiited pen-knife, a wooden mallet and a fine saw." 

 This would cost, in Confederate money ^ about $10, 

 000, and I don't think they could be bought for 

 even that sum, now. 



A Grape vine is certainly very valuable, and would 

 be cheaply bought even at the Doctor's price and 

 investment ; but we, away down here, have been in 

 the habit of acting a little differently from the mode 

 practiced by the Doctor, in grafting grape vines ; 

 and that without thinking it a secret, — we have 

 thought our mode was known throughout America; 

 but from the contribution in the Feb. No. of your 

 magazine, and the assertion of Mr. J. W. Merrick, 

 Jr., in the August No., I am led to believe that 

 we know a little more about grafting the grape 

 than we thought we did. Then let me give you a 

 new mode, and if those who practice it find it as 

 successful as your contributor has, there will be very 

 little demand upon nurserymen for grape vines, and 

 very little complaint among ?/owr readers as to failure 

 in raising the vine by grafting. I don't pretend 

 to say that our way will be successful everywhere, 

 but I do assert that as far as known it has proved 

 eminently successful here. 



Provide yourself with a sharp knife ; this is the 

 only instrument necessary beside a good grubbing 

 hoe, for taking up vines that are not where you 

 want them, and for procuring roots for grafting. 

 Graft all the time on the root for it is far prefera- 

 ble on the ground of supply. Cut your roots about 

 18 inches long for stocks, and j^our scions for 

 grafts almost any length, from 4 in. to 1^ feet, the 

 latter preferable to the farmer, but 12 in. is the 

 length we prefer. Graft after the manner of whip 

 grafting, wax well and plant so as to leave the top 

 bud of the graft above the surface. If you fail then 

 in raising vines, you have experienced a loss which 

 we cannot appreciate. We use any kind of grape 

 roots, the wild generally taken because so abundant. 

 In our hands we fail no oftener than with the apple, 

 pear, plum, &c. Give me a cutting and I will show 

 you, in twelve months, a fine vine. 



