214 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July 
more and more appreciated. Horses, horned cattle, 
swine and geese, are all ready to test their excellence, 
as articles of food; and man finds in them a healthful 
and agreeable luxury. Their value increases with their 
excellency and keeping qualities. Of course, the very 
best varieties are the best to raise for every purpose. 
It has become a prevailing opinion with some, that 
their orchards are too old, ever to experience any reno¬ 
vating influence, consequently, they are not worth 
grafting, and the only way for them is, to put out new 
trees and let the old ones pass away. 
It is certainly a very good policy to set new orchards, 
and every farmer who has none but old trees, “the ear¬ 
ly settlers,” should be about, it with all diligence. But 
do not despise or neglect the old trees. If they have 
become scrubby in the top, prune with all care. If 
the bark has become rough and dry with age, sccrape 
it, and if in doing this, you reach the live hark, no 
harm will result. If your orchard has long been in 
grass, and your convenience will permit, plow and ma¬ 
nure, and raise one, two, or three crops of potatoes or 
eorn. If it is not convenient to plow, make a compost 
of chip manure and common earth, and put a load of 
this under each tree. Or, if you saw your wood, or 
burn your chips, use the earth alone, and a good effect 
wili result from it. Apply it as often as you can; if 
every year, the result will be better. In proof of the 
utility of doing this, we furnish the following facts: 
In the autumn of 1837, in opening an excavation in 
search of iron ore, the laborers dumped the earth taken 
from the pit on descending land on which stood several 
apple trees. We saw them doing it, and looked upon 
those trees as killed, an anticipation which gave us but 
little uneasiness, as they had for several years been un¬ 
productive, or, if they have borne at all, the fruit was 
so small and knotty that it was deemed of little value. 
The carting and dumping process was continued until 
the earth (earth of no great vegetating power, as all 
must know who are conversant with the earths and 
ochres of an iron mine,) was raised around those trees 
to a height of from twelve to eighteen inches. Contra¬ 
ry to our wise calculations that, those trees would 
die, in the spring of ’38 they put forth a rich and beau¬ 
tiful foliage, and although not remarkable for their fruit, 
they gave a fine growth of wood that season. In ’39 
the trees were amply ladkn with fine, fair fruit, increas¬ 
ed in size, and improved in quality, irom the slight, in¬ 
significant productions of former years. These trees 
have continued annual bearers until the present time. 
From this casual experiment, we took a hint, and 
have already resuscitated several old apparently worth¬ 
less trees by the method we have prescribed. In ’47, 
particularly, we experimented upon a tree which for¬ 
merly produced a delicious, sweet, early apple, and, 
although we applied but one load of chip manure and 
common earth, mixed in about equal parts at the time 
of application, which was before the tree blossomed ; 
The effect was surprising. The tree threw out many 
new shoots, and produced more apples than it had done 
for many successive years. 
The rationale of scraping the old bark lies in this. 
It becomes dry and compact on the surface, and there¬ 
by hinders the expansion of internal parts, so that the 
sap circulates sluggishly, and hence the vital energy of 
the tree is checked so as to render it nearlv worthless, 
if its destruction is not complete. This old bark may 
all be taken off with perfect safety to the inner layer, 
but in doing this, the greatest care should be used not 
to penetrate that in the least. After scraping the bark, 
wash the tree as you would a young tree, with ley, and 
in a few days you will see the bark assuming a youth¬ 
ful, vigorous appearance. If the wash be repeated of¬ 
ten, no injury will result. It cleanses the bark from 
impurities, keeps the pores open and free, and effects 
ally destroys all insects that seek shelter there. 
Thus much for renovating old trees,—a thing to be 
desired until new ones can be raised in sufficient quan¬ 
tities to supply the increasing demands for fruit. But 
no farmer should place reliance upon them for a long 
period. Age will sweep them away at last, after all 
efforts to stay its progress. The next generation will 
need new and larger orchards. Every farmer, there¬ 
fore, should set himself about raising a new orchard 
forthwith. We say raising, for in what way can a far¬ 
mer get a hundred apple trees easier than to sow the 
seed, tend them, and graft them himself. The labor of 
this is trifling, and if he does it, he will be pretty sure 
to know what his trees are, whether they are grafted 
on whole roots or only pieces of roots , and can conse¬ 
quently determine much better whether his trees will 
be trees. He may also know with more cer f ainty than 
can always be possessed, what the varieties of his trees 
are. This he may undoubtedly know in purchases from 
most of our nurseries, but mistakes sometimes occur in 
this as in other business, for more than once it has been 
our misfortune to purchase a tree bearing high recom¬ 
mendations, and doubtless valuable somewhere, which 
to us was utterly worthless. Soil or climate may have 
made a difference, but had we taken scions from some 
known valuable variety in our own neighborhood, our 
disappointment would have been remedied, our money- 
saved, and our lost labor turned to good account. Y’rs 
respectfully, Wm. Bacon. Elmwood, April, 1848. 
Experiments in Grafting. 
Several correspondents have favored us with the re¬ 
sults of their experiments in grafting, which we believe 
will be acceptable, in a condensed form, to many of 
our readers. 
E. M. Hoyt, of New-Haven, Yt., gives the follow¬ 
ing statement of a successful mode of raising a small 
nursery of apple trees for his own farm:—In the spring 
of the year, I enrich plentifully with manure a piece 
of ground near the house, so as to be often under my 
eye. I then proceed to the orchard or yard where my 
cattle have been after eating apples in autumn, where 
I find in their scattered manure apple plants in their 
second and third leaf. These are removed with the ad¬ 
hering manure and placed in rows. They growvigor- 
ously and require careful weeding, particularly the first 
season. The second spring many may be grafted, but 
I usually wait till the third spring, when the plants are 
two years old. 
My grafting process is simple, and if well perform¬ 
ed, sure of success. 
Being provided with scions, procured in February 
from trees producing the varieties I desire, also with a 
quantity of strong brown paper, thinly coated with 
common grafting wax, the paper being cut into pieces, 
two by four inches, I cut off the tree obliquely, about 
6 inches above the surface of the earth, thus leaving 
an opportunity in case of failure, to regraft below. I 
then select from the scions, with which I had previous¬ 
ly provided myself, one of nearly a corresponding size, 
and take off about four inches, including at least two 
buds. This I match on to the stock, so that the bark 
of the two parts, shall generally come in contact, then 
holding them firmly pressed together, wind the paper- 
plaster around the splice with the wax side inward, 
drawing it very closely. This work should be done on 
a sunny day, so that the wax will adhere closely, as it 
is wound twice or thrice around. Rub a little extra 
wax around the tree, both on the upper and lower ed¬ 
ges of the plaster, to exclude rain,&c. This plaster is 
all the ligature required as the union soon becomes per¬ 
fect. After ihe scion sends forth its shoots, all start¬ 
ing sprouts below the splice, should b© removed. As 
