104 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Cardoons. — The same treatment, but as 
the stems of their leaves are eaten after 
blanching like Sea Kale, they are earthed 
up almost as much as Celery as fast as they 
advance. 
Onions. — Select a good open spot, well 
dig it, and richly manure it; you can hardly 
do this too much; level and sow with your 
principal crop of White Spanish, Globe, and 
Tripoli, about even of each; rake it in well, 
and heavily roll it, or tread every inch of it 
all over, to press the seed into the soil ; cover 
well by raking. 
Leeks. — Sow a patch of these somewhere 
to transplant. 
Look to past months, to see if anything has 
been neglected, and do it now upon the prin- 
ciple that it is better late than never. 
FRUIT GARDEN. 
This is later than we should choose to plant 
trees ; but not later than we should do it if 
required. It requires, however, greater care 
in the taking up and removing, as well as in 
the planting, to prevent the trees from suffer- 
ing by the change. The entire root ought to 
be preserved, and the moisture upon it should 
not be permitted to dry. It is impossible to 
be too careful of every fibre ; and in planting, 
the root should be spread as nearly as may 
be into the shape it occupied when in the 
place it was taken from. Take especial care 
to plant high enough, the collar of the root 
well above ground, for on this much depends. 
If there be a tap root, cut it off, and make a 
corresponding sacrifice of the head, so that the 
diminished root may have diminished work 
to do ; on no other occasion would we wilfully 
lose an inch of the root, but a tap root is 
ruin to a fruit tree nine times out of ten. In 
the modes of planting refer to former di- 
rections. 
Grafting is one of the operations to be 
looked to this month, if not actually per- 
formed ; but we prefer working them towards 
the end of the month, or, at all events, com- 
mencing. Of the various modes of grafting, a 
volume might be written ; but we see no 
object in going out of the most simple possible 
way. Imagine a stick broken, and that you 
have to splice it in the strongest way ; you 
would then make a good graft. Say that the 
stock and the scion to be grafted on it are 
both of a size ; cut each in a sloping direction, 
and make them fit exactly ; then cut a slit in 
each half way along the slope, so as to form a 
kind of tuck into one another. This is techni- 
cally called tonguing ; it adds to the strength 
of the graft, and makes the union complete. 
When the stock is larger than the scion, the 
best way is to cut a sort of cleft out of the 
stock, taking out an angular piece, and then 
to cut the scion to fit in it, this being tied 
in and the barks brought into contact, for the 
barks must always meet at one of the edges 
to make a proper union. Another mode of 
grafting, in a simple way, is to cut out of the 
stock a piece the shape of a wedge, and the 
scion should be cut the form of a wedge to fit 
it. Others reverse this operation, particularly 
when the scion is small, and the stock large. 
Cut the stock the form of a wedge, and the 
scion is split, and the inside cut away, so that 
it bestrides the wedge at one side ; for if the 
barks of the stock and scion meet at one side 
it is enough, although the stock was as large 
as your arm, and the scion a mere twig. In 
the course of time the scion would be quite as 
large as the stock, and perhaps hardly show the 
join. 
The principal points to attend to in the 
process of grafting is, first, — whatever be 
the plan, — to use sharp knives, make the joints 
fit close, tie them firmly, but not too hard, let 
the barks of the scion and stock always be 
close on one side, whatever be the state of the 
other, for on that depends everything ; cover 
the graft where tied with proper grafting clay, 
which is introduced to keep the air from the 
join until it is united. This grafting clay is 
made adhesive by mixing, according to its 
stiffness, with a quantity of new cow-dung, 
beating them together, for if it were not tem- 
pered with the cow-dung it would bake hard 
on the trees, and crack, and fall off in dry 
weather. Some use grafting wax, formed of 
resin and bees' wax, in equal parts, and tem- 
pered with tallow, a small portion of which 
will reduce it so as to be laid on while warm 
with a brush, and cool sufficiently to coat over 
the join properly, as a body to resist the wet 
and the air. But upon the whole the clay is 
preferable, as it retains moisture. One par- 
ticular point should always be attended to 
in grafting. The stock should, at its highest 
point, have a bud, because nothing is more 
common than stocks dying down to the first 
joint ; so that a graft would, in such case, be 
lost, because if the stock died back to the 
first eye, and the graft was above it, however 
well it may be done, it must fail ; whereas, 
the eye or joint being at the very top of the 
stock secures it. 
Pruning should be done with ; but if not 
completed there is no time to lose. The 
directions for this have already been ample, 
and it should be now considered as work 
delayed, and be done accordingly. 
Gooseberries and Currants. — Procure 
all you are in want of at once, for the delay 
now would be of importance. There must 
in these, as in other fruit, be additional care 
used in taking up as well as planting. 
Fruit Trees planted last month should be 
