1911. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
269 
protect it from severe freezing in the Winter by bury¬ 
ing it in the ground and covering it with earth and 
leaves or coarse manure. I do not know but that 
there may be other times as favorable for successful 
grafting, but I prefer and choose the early Spring, 
just as soon as the ground where the stocks grow 
can be occupied and handled without an unpleasant 
amount of mud. When this time is at hand I remove 
the earth from about the stocks down to the roots, 
making the excavation wide enough so that a small 
saw can be conveniently used for preparing the stock 
for the reception of the scions. Then I cut the scions, 
generally with two buds, an inch above the upper bud 
and at least l l /z inch below the lower bud. I keep 
them then in a pail of water, taking them out not 
long enough before using to allow much drying. 
Now comes the preparation of the stock for the 
reception of the scions—the critical point—where those 
who are used only to the grafting of the apple are 
apt to “fall down.” The facility with which the apple 
is successfully grafted is likely to prove a snare. I 
first saw off the vine as near to the roots as possible, 
and yet allow a stump of an inch and a half that may 
be cleft without endangering its splitting down through 
the roots by the. insertion of the scions. Since it is 
seldom that the grain of an old stock is sufficiently 
straight to enable it to be split with a knife so as 
to receive the scion satisfactorily, I make the cleft 
with the saw about V/z inch deep and then, though 
I do not know that this is important, with a sharp 
blade I smooth out of the kerf the parts discolored 
by the saw, and enlarge the cleft with an iron or a 
hard-wood wedge, but not too much, and make the 
wedge on the end of the scion to be inserted about 
l l /z inch long from about the middle of the lower 
bud, carefully shaping it so that it will fit the kerf as 
closely as possible its entire length, making the edge 
having the bud slightly thicker than the other, and 
insert it with the bud outward, making the cambium 
or inner bark of the scion touch that of the stock in 
as much of the length as possible. I think it better 
that the iron wedge be not driven 
so far that the scion can be pushed 
into place easily, as in the case 
of grafting the apple, as the vine lacks 
the resiliency of file apple, preferring to 
tap the scion lightly into place with a 
mallet. Of course in case the stick is 
large enough two scions are inserted in 
it. By following the directions here 
outlined I now succeed in grafting the 
vine with the loss of about five per cent, 
which is comparatively small. 
Even at the time here given for the 
grafting, if a few warm days occur 
there will sometimes be some show of 
the movement of sap, but this need not 
cause alarm, as a change of weather, 
sure to come, will check the flow, but 
if the grafting be delayed till near the 
time of settled' warm weather a profuse 
flow of sap is likely to cause serious loss 
among the grafted vines. 
When the insertion of the scions is 
completed I place a small stake as near 
the stock as may be, always at the same 
side so that in case the scions should be 
covered with earth in cultivation or 
otherwise, it may be known where they 
may be readily found, then the earth re¬ 
moved is returned till the scions are 
covered up to the upper bud, and care 
must be taken that the stock, at least, 
is never left uncovered nor even cov¬ 
ered with dry earth only. 
It is only important to say further 
that the one who loves his vines will 
now watch anxiously for the starting 
of the buds, but lie must not be dis¬ 
appointed if he should have to wait two 
or even three months for that pleasing 
event. When they start he should be 
prepared to give the growth at least 
weekly attention if he desires to insure 
the best results, in order to secure the 
desired growth in proper form and position and to 
repress all undesirable growth by continually pinch¬ 
ing back. The growth will be exceedingly rapid so 
that with proper care the whole vine may be formed 
and a fair crop of fruit secured the following season, 
but if this care be wanting the vine will become a 
tangled mass of half-ripened wood to be mostly killed 
during the following Winter months. It is a ease 
where after care is quite as important as attention to 
details in the actual grafting. r. l. taylor. 
Lapeer Co., Mich. 
Last year, Tampico, Mexico, sent this country $21,380 
worth of honey—mostly wild. 
IK> not buy any fertilizer except on guaranteed analysis. 
Make them tell you how much lime they offer also. 
numbers of Summer spores or conidia. These are 
scattered by the wind and produce new infections in 
June and July. The knots then gradually become 
black in color, and in March or April of the second 
year produce another set of spores in minute pockets 
all over the surface of the knots. These so-called 
Winter spores are distributed in May or June, caus¬ 
ing another new set of infections. It is thus evident 
that the knot may cause new infections for two years 
in succession. These knots are not caused by insects, 
as is very often supposed, but because of the rapid 
growth and succulence of the tissues, many insects find 
this a good place to lay their eggs and develop their 
larvae. It is not surprising, therefore, that worms of 
various kinds are frequently found in these knots. 
The most satisfactory means of controlling this 
disease consists of a surgical operation, namely, re¬ 
moval of all limbs and twigs bearing knots, cutting at 
least three or four inches below the knot in every case. 
Bearing in mind the times of year in which the spores 
of the fungus ...aimed and distributed, it will be 
seen that the proper time for cutting out the knots 
will be early in the Spring, say not later than May, 
and again in the Fall, as soon as the leaves are off the 
trees. Since the spores are carried for considerable 
distance by the wind, permanent relief from the 
trouble cannot be expected, unless an effort is made 
to eradicate the disease from the entire neighborhood, 
at least for considerable distances in the direction of 
the prevailing winds. Old cherry and plum trees, 
growing in fence rows or about abandoned houses or 
barns or in neglected back yards should be very 1 
carefully pruned out and put in shape, or else cut 
down and destroyed. All knots should be burned 
promptly after cutting from the tree, as the fungus 
may be able to mature its spores on the dead limbs 
lying on the ground. h. h. whetzel, 
Plant Pathologist. 
THE CHESTNUT TREE BLIGHT. 
Dpring the year ending with December, 1910, destruc¬ 
tion of the chestnut trees by blight con¬ 
tinued in full swing. The first State 
that will surrender its chestnut trees to 
the devastating fungus is New Jersey. 
It will be only a few years until a na¬ 
tive chestnut tree in New Jersey will be 
a rare specimen. The writer has traced 
the disease along the Palisades and in 
the Passaic Valley west of Paterson, 
along the head waters of the Raritan in 
the _ northern portions of Somerset 
County and in the southern sections of 
Morris County. Three years ago its 
presence was detected at Trenton, and 
later along the Delaware Valley at 
Phillipsburg. The seven coast counties 
in New York have suffered most se¬ 
verely from tire attacks of this deadly 
parasite. The chestnut trees of Rich¬ 
mond County, on Staten Island, and the 
two western counties of Long Island 
have almost entirely disappeared. Where 
the dead trees have not been cut down, 
stripped of bark they stand as ghostly 
monuments testifying to the all-per¬ 
vasiveness of the calamity. 
Specimens of chestnut bark from the 
Connecticut Valley north of New Haven 
were sent me by a college professor for 
examination. A microscopic examina¬ 
tion revealed the spores of the blight, 
Diaporthe parasitica. Just how preval¬ 
ent the attack may be in Connecticut 
would require careful inspection. In 
Pennsylvania, from Philadelphia west¬ 
ward, along the main line of the P. R. 
R., extensive tree surgery was done by 
Deputy Commissioner of Forestry, Mr. 
Williams, and a band of students. The 
practical value of his work will be mani¬ 
fest in one or two seasons. Since the 
spores are carried through the air, the 
currents along a railroad are most fa¬ 
vorable for spreading the disease. The 
blight is spreading from year to year, and at present 
man with all his devices, with his surgery and tar 
plasters, with his spraying machines and fungicides, is 
almost helpless against the ravages of one of the most 
virulent diseases that has yet appeared in our forests. 
It is well known that one species of fungus will 
sometimes attack another, and from experiments this 
is found to be true with the blight. It is a case of dog 
eat dog, insect devour insect, but the destroying fun¬ 
gus does not seem to be able to keep pace with the 
chestnut blight, which finds its way beneath the bark 
and thus escapes the touch of the spray as well as its 
fungous enemy. john mickleborough, ph. d. 
Yes —said the hog ia the clover field—the sward is 
mightier than the pen. 
BLACK KNOT OF PLUMS AND CHERRIES. 
This is one of the most common and destructive of 
the plant diseases affecting our orchard trees. Even 
the most careless observer has noted, at one time or 
another, the large black swellings or knots which ap¬ 
pear on the limbs of certain varieties of cherries and 
LOS ANGELES OASABA MELON. Fio. 74. 
See Huralisms, Page 279. 
plums. In some sections this disease is exceedingly 
common and destructive. It is caused by a fungus 
living as a parasite, in the bark and wood of the 
plum or cherry. This fungus reproduces itself and 
spreads by means of spores which are carried by the 
wind and lodge in the crevices of the bark or on the 
buds, where they germinate, penetrate the living bark, 
and by their presence and growth irritate the cam¬ 
BIDWELL CASABA MELON, WEIGHT, 20 POUNDS. Fig. 75. 
bium, the growing part of the limb. The plant re¬ 
sponds to this irritation by the increased growth of 
this part at the point affected, which eventually re¬ 
sults in the black knots, so characteristic of the 
disease. It takes approximately two years for the 
fungus to complete its development in the tree; that 
is, from the time the spores first lodge on the twig 
until the knots have matured and their last crop of 
spores has been distributed. 
The period of infection, that is, the time when the 
tree may take the disease, is probably from May to 
July. The knots do not appear on the limbs until 
the following Spring when, in the month of April or 
May, they burst forth and in June become covered 
with a green felt upon which are produced great 
