GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 
335 
It is very common, soon after the operation, for 
the chicken to get wind in the side, when the 
wound is healing, between the flesh and the skin; 
it must be relieved by making a small incision in 
the skin, which will let the wind escape. 
Those fowls make the finest capons which are 
hatched early in the spring; they can be cut be¬ 
fore the hot weather comes, which is a great ad¬ 
vantage. 
Never attempt to cut a full-grown cock; it is a 
useless and cruel piece of curiosity. I have never 
known one to live. 
Be not discouraged with the first difficulties; 
with practice they will disappear; every season 
you will find yourself more expert, until the cut¬ 
ting of a dozen fowls before breakfast will be a 
small matter. 
It may be well to give a warning against be¬ 
coming dissatisfied with the tools. A raw hand, 
when he meets with difficulties, is apt to think the 
tools are in fault, and sets about to improve them 
and invent others; but it is only himself that lacks 
skill, which practice alone can give. I have spent 
money, besides wasting my time in this foolish no¬ 
tion, but have always found that the old, original 
tools, which came from China, and where this 
mode of operating was invented, are the best. 
Take care that the tools are not abused by igno¬ 
rant persons attempting to use them; they will 
last a person’s life-time if properly used; but if 
put out of order, none but a surgical instrument 
maker can repair them properly. 
The object in giving publicity to this, is to have 
the markets of Philadelphia well supplied with 
capons: they have ever been esteemed one of the 
greatest delicacies, preserving the flavor and ten¬ 
derness of the chicken, with the juicy maturity of 
age. In the Paris and London markets, double 
the price of common poultry is obtained for capons. 
Considering the abundance and excellence of 
poultry in the United States, it seems surprising 
that the art of making capons should be almost 
entirely unknown—it is hoped that this deficiency 
will now be supplied. 
GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 
For what follows on grafting and budding, we 
are indebted to that excellent family paper, the 
New World. The article was prepared for it by 
J. S. Skinner, Esq., of the Post Office Department, 
Washington, from an English work, which, he 
adds, “is not published or much known in this 
country.” 
Grafting.— The process of grafting consists in 
taking off a shoot from one tree, and inserting it 
into another, in such a manner as that both may 
unite closely, and become one tree; the shoot or 
cutting thus employed is called a scion, and the 
tree on which it is inserfed or grafted, a stock. 
The process of budding has precisely the same ob¬ 
ject in view as that of grafting, differing from the 
latter process only in the insertion of a bud, in¬ 
stead of a shoot or cutting, into the bark of another 
tree. To execute either process with adroitness 
and success, considerable practice is required. To 
excel in either, instructions should be received from 
some competent person, who is both willing and 
able to impart the necessary information. More 
knowledge can be acquired in a short time in this 
manner than can possibly be attained by the most 
attentive perusal of any treatise expressly written 
upon the subject. Impressed with the difficulty 
of the task, many writers have indeed asserted, 
that description alone must ever fail to convey an 
adequate knowledge of the process; but the intel¬ 
ligent author of the English Gardener has, with 
his usual ability, treated the subject in so clear 
and comprehensive a manner that we are induced 
to give the details of the process in the author’s 
own language. 
Before entering upon the subject of grafting and 
budding, there is one thing which is equally appli¬ 
cable to both processes, and that is, that the stock 
ought to stand the whole summer upon the spot 
where it is grafted, before that operation is per¬ 
formed upon it. If stocks be planted out in the 
fall, the sap does not rise vigorously enough in the 
spring to afford a fair chance to the growing of the 
graft; another remark of equal importance is, that 
fruit-trees stand only one summer on the spot 
whence they are to be removed to their final des¬ 
tination ; because, if they stand longer than this, 
they will have large and long roots, great ampu¬ 
tation must take place, and the trees suffer exceed¬ 
ingly. 
The Time of Grafting is generally from the be¬ 
ginning of February to the end of March,* begin¬ 
ning with the earliest sorts of trees, as plums, 
cherries, and pears; and ending with the latest, 
as apples. But seasons are different, and in a 
backward season, the season for grafting will be 
backward; and in such case, the fulness and 
bursting appearance of the buds of the stocks, and 
the mildness of the weather must be our guides. 
However, it is certain that the mild weather, with 
occasional showers, is the best time for grafting. 
The Mode of Preparing the Scion comes next. 
Take from the tree from which you mean to propa¬ 
gate, as many branches of last year’s wood as will 
cut into the quantity of scions that you want; but 
in choosing what branches to take, let the vigor 
of the tree guide you, in some measure. If it be 
a healthy, flourishing, and young tree, take your 
branches from the outside shoots, for the upright 
ones at the top, or those near the middle, are more 
likely to produce wood than fruit. Yet do not 
take branches from the very lowest part of the 
tree, if you can avoid it, as these are sure to be 
more puling in their nature. In case the tree be 
old or weakly, then choose the most vigorous of 
its last year’s shoots, no matter where they grow. 
Keep these branches uncut until you arrive at the 
season for grafting, keeping them, in the mean¬ 
while, buried in dry mould; and when that sea¬ 
son arrives, take them up and cut them into the 
proper lengths for grafting. The middle part of 
each branch will generally be found to be the best; 
but your branches may be scarce and few in num¬ 
ber, and then make use of every part. Each scion 
* In this climate, April and May are the best months. 
—Ed. Am. Ag. 
