The praises which have been so liberally bestowed itporl 
Forsyth, seem to place beyond all doubt the efficacy of his 
Composition for curing the wounds of ail sorts of trees. The 
work, in which is contained the receipt for making it, has been 
recently published, and is scarce and'dear. Either of these 
circumstances would be sufficient to deprive those of its in¬ 
formation, who are most interested in possessing it ; and here 
it may be worth while to enable them to avail themselves of 
a discovery which is considered as very valuable. 
A tree, which, according to Forsyth, has hardly anything 
living but the bark, and which, if left to itself, would linger 
on, and die in a short time, may not only recover after his me¬ 
thod within three years, but grow', during that period, and b»- 
lestored to its former luxuriance; It is easy to conceive, that 
though it may have been very much mutilated* it may be 
preserved by being treated in the same manner. The process 
consists in removing tire diseased and unsound parts by cut¬ 
ting to the quick with a sharp knife, and then immediately 
applying the above coin position with a brush to the wound. 
This composition, (says theauthor), is preferable to the mix¬ 
ture of clay and cow-dung, which is used in grafting. My 
experiments in this respect, have not been successful, as not 
one out of more than two dozen lias succeeded. In fact, its 
calcareous causticity, cannot fail of absorbing the moisture 
which is necessary to the union of the graft and the stock; 
and, in my opinion, it is precisely this very quality, which 
makes it so serviceable in curing the wounds of trees. 
It is a pity to see prejudice triumph over ingenious inven¬ 
tions. The mixture of turpentine, wax, and rosin, the use of 
which was so strongly recommended by Miller, the oracle of 
English gardening, (Gard. Diet. Art. Grafting.) has now 
remained buried in oblivion for more than half a century. I 
have substituted instead of it, one more simple, by combining 
with a given quantity of rosin, about one-fourth part of tal¬ 
low ; this mixture has the advantage of cleanliness, expedi¬ 
tion, and cheapness. It must be moderately melted on a 
chafing dish, and thenapplied with a wooden spatula or spoon 
to the grafts; it will completely defend them against small 
worms, and the effects of the sun and the frost, and the other 
inclemencies of the weather. 1 have now used it for a long¬ 
time with complete success. It is worth while to inform the 
reader, that when this mixture is warmed often, it will be ne¬ 
cessary to add more tallow occasionally; as otherwise it 
would be subject to fall off in scales, and sometimes to detach 
itself entirely, and thus make the graft fail. 
The following is the substance of Forsyth’s receipt, which, 
besides other advantages, has procured him a grant of 6000I. 
from the parliament of Great Britain. 
Take a bushel of fresh cow-dung, half a bushel of the rub- 
;bish of old buildings, (that of ceiling is preferable), such as 
old slacked lime and chalk, half a bushel of wood ashes, and 
the sixteenth part of a bushel of sand from a quarry or a river. 
Thes e 
