Vol LXIT. No. 2787. 
NEW YORK, JUNE 27, 1903. 
II PER YEAR. 
BUDDING AND GRAFTING FROM BOATS. 
FI.OOT) TIMES IN MISSISSIPPI. 
A Novel Experience with a Nursery Under Water. 
In the course of my work last Spring in preparing 
for the planting of a large pecan orchard in the rich, 
alluvial soil of the Yazoo Delta, in Mississippi, a pecan 
nursery was planted there. Over four barrels of small 
DRAFTING PECAN TREE FROM A BOAT. Fig. 169. 
wild nuts were planted. They were all safely in the 
ground only the very day the Mississippi River levee 
broke four miles below' Greenville, and about 20 miles 
from the nursery, on March 27. We knew the back 
water would cover the nuts several feet deep, in case 
the levee broke, as was feared when they were being 
planted, because of the dangerous stage of the river. 
The greatest care was used to have all well covered 
with earth. The water came over the ground the 
third day afterward, and within a few days more was 
about seven feet deep. The western part of the Yazoo 
Delta is within the territory where the pecan grows 
wild in its greatest luxuriance. There are gigantic 
trees of it there, and many of them once grew on the 
land where the nursery now is, and where the 1,000- 
acre orchard will be within three years. There are 
thousands of pecan sprouts growing up from the 
stumps wherever they have not been kept down by 
constant cutting and digging, all over the clearings 
and even in the old cotton fields; for the pecan is one 
of the most persistent trees to grow that any farmer 
ever had to contend with. The birds also keep drop¬ 
ping the nuts, from year to year, as they fiy over the 
fields. As the entire nursery is to be budded or graft¬ 
ed with the best varieties of the pecan, such as have 
been named and well tested as to their bearing, in 
addition to the size and other good qualities of the 
nuts, it was necessary to provide an abundance of 
young wood of these varieties close at hand. There¬ 
fore a lot of these wild sprouts and small trees were 
selected near the nursery and at once budded and 
grafted to the choice varieties. Many of them are 
standing along Puzzle Bayou, which is a part of the 
drainage system of that locality, and beside the nur¬ 
sery. Wlien the flood came the fields, forests, streams, 
lakes and all were submerged under one vast stretch 
of water, from the Mississippi levee on the west to 
the low embankment of the railway that runs parallel 
with the river and 10 to 15 miles to the eastward of 
it; and from Greenville on the north to the mouth of 
the Yazoo River at Vicksburg. As the water kept 
pouring into this great basin at the widening crevasse 
in the levee and the flood of the Father of Waters 
was sure to remain at a high stage for many weeks, 
we knew that there would be need of boats and pro¬ 
ceeded to make some. We made skiffs of various sizes 
for the darkies to use in floating logs out of the clear¬ 
ings and other uses. To get rid thus of rolling and 
burning log heaps was a great saving of time and hard 
labor. Every chunk, brush, chip and other thing that 
would float was easily sent adrift and into the woods, 
where they no longer bothered the planters. Our 
nursery ground was thus rid of many troublesome 
things, for it is in new land, and we cut some tall 
snags and old trees from boats, which we then floated 
down the quiet tide to the neighboring forest. 
•But one service to which the boats were put was 
quite novel. We had a lot of grafting and Spring 
budding to do while the flood lasted, on the little 
pecan trees; they stood about the right height to 
work from the boats. It was very easy to move about 
among them on the quiet water, and no step ladders 
were needed, as would have been the case without the 
flood. I did not have my camera with me, but when 
the water had receded several feet I was able to bor¬ 
row a small one, with which I took some rather poor 
pictures. Two of them are seen in Figs. 169 and 170, 
which show us setting the buds and grafts. It was a 
novel and very convenient way to do the work, and 
may never have been done before. I also made and 
rigged a good sailboat, and many merry parties of 
young and old people were carried over the submerged 
cotton fields. 'Wire fences sometimes bothered the 
centerboard when we crossed them, but we had little 
to prevent us from freely gliding over the waves, first 
on one tack and then on the other, as if we were 
really “at sea.” We sailed over the pecan nursery 
with ease, where now the little seedlings are growing 
rapidly. The four weeks of soaking was a benefit 
rather than a damage to the nuts. Our foreman re¬ 
ports that there is an excellent stand, as we expected 
would be the case. h. e. van deoiian. 
VIOLET GROWING IN THE HUDSON VALLEY 
Possibilities in a Fragrant Industry. 
I have taken a trip through the violet district of 
Rhinebeck, N. Y., and will'try to give a few facts re¬ 
garding the industry for the benefit of R. N.-Y. read¬ 
ers. Violet growing has become a great business in 
this section, and Rhinebeck has become known as per¬ 
haps the most important center for the culture of this 
fragrant flower in the United States. There are many 
acres already under glass, and many new houses are 
building. A very conservative estimate wouid place 
the increase for this year at 40 to 50 per cent. The 
industry was started about 18 years ago, as I under¬ 
stand, by George Saltford, whose place is about two 
miles from the village. Mr. Saltford was formerly en¬ 
gaged in rose culture, and built a small violet house, 
meeting with such success that it has proved to be 
the keynote for all this later enterprise. A present 
ride through some parts of the village of Rhinebeck 
and its suburbs would quite astonish a stranger from 
the amount of glasshouses in sight, and a Winter or 
Easter ride through the district when the flowers are 
luxuriant and all the atmosphere is filled with the de¬ 
lightful fragrance emanating from the pretty little 
flowers is something which cannot be described, but 
which will be long remembered. It is believed that 
this locality offers peculiar advantages; first, in cor¬ 
rect soil and purity of air, and secondly, and not by 
any means least, in perfect express service. The flow¬ 
ers are shipped to New York, whence, after supplying 
the city’s own needs, they are distributed to many 
points. It is even predicted that they will shortly be 
sent on to Europe. 
Though the business is conceded to be an exceed¬ 
ingly profitable one the idea that it would soon be 
overdone has deterred many people from engaging in 
it. But it will be seen that there is a strong under¬ 
current of faith in its future in the fact that many 
of the largest growers are enlarging their plants by 
the addition of one or more houses. The enterprise, 
until recently, has been in the hands of the owners 
of small places in the village and outside, but now 
the farmers are taking it up in a measure, and the 
particular object of this article is to show, if pos¬ 
sible, their better advantages for this line of work. 
As regards location of a violet house, a place is 
sought where there is good air drainage and good 
soil drainage; a rather elevated position is favored. 
The houses are generally 150 to 200 feet in length, and 
about 20 to 22 feet in width, with a center and two 
side beds of soil running through, separated by two 
narrow walks of about 14 inches. The construction 
of the house is very simple, but it must be supplied 
with a system of hot-water pipes to afford heat from 
a furnace placed at one end, and must also be pro¬ 
vided with proper water facilities. This latter in the 
case of the Rhinebeck people is furnished by the vil¬ 
lage waterworks at a cost of about $15 per year for 
a 150-foot house. If in the country, water may be ob¬ 
tained from some hillside spring or stream, or pumped 
by windmill or engine power. The roof sashes are so 
constructed as to afford ventilation, and are also re¬ 
movable in sections for the purpose of filling or re¬ 
moving soil, etc. A 150-foot house may be built and 
properly equipped at a cost of about $900 to $1,000, 
depending somewhat upon conditions; a 200-foot 
house costs from $1,200 to $1,500. 
The matter of soil and its preparation is a most im¬ 
portant one, and is the heaviest and most costly work 
SPRING-BUDDING PECAN TREES FROM A BOAT. Fig. 170. 
connected with the business. It is just here where the 
farmer has a great advantage. A good clean loam sod 
is chosen, and it must be thoroughly mixed with a 
certain quantity of well-rotted manure, and perfectly 
subdued by several handlings. This is a laborious and 
expensive matter for the village growers, as all the 
soil and manure has to be purchased. Not nearly 
