ON THE PRACTICABILITY OF RENOVATING FRUIT-TREES. 127 
gardens with the best success. In one case, nearly one hundred pear 
and apple trees, which had been planted about fifty years, and which 
were trained horizontally as espaliers, but had become irregular and 
unsightly, were ordered to be renewed by grafting. It was considered 
best that each tree should be done at twice—that is, one half of the 
branches in the first year, and the other half in the next. Each alter¬ 
nate branch was sawn off at about four inches from the stem, and 
grafted in the first year, and the intermediate branches were done in 
the same way in the second. This plan was adopted for two reasons; 
the first was, that the roots might not be too much checked by remov¬ 
ing all the branches at once ; and the second, that the garden should 
not be disfigured by ranks of branchless trunks for any considerable 
time ; besides, the reserved branches yielded a fair sprinkling of supe¬ 
rior fruit in the first year, while the first grafts were shooting vigor¬ 
ously between them, and began to bear a few fruit in the third year. 
In the fourth and fifth years, the symmetry of the trees was restored, 
and the grafts proved much more prolific than either young shoots from 
the old stem, or those of young-planted trees would have been ; indeed 
this is the principal advantage of double-grafting, as it invariably 
induces a greater prolificacy in the shortest time. 
The manner in which the grafting was performed was the most 
simple of all, namely, “ rind-grafting,” or grafting under the bark. The 
branch intended to receive the graft was first sawn off to the length 
already mentioned, the saw being directed obliquely, so that the upper 
side of the branch should jut out a little over the lower side, in 
order that the face of the wound made by the saw should be towards 
the earth. The graft was prepared by forming its lower part like a 
wedge, the lower side, however, being cut away only, so as to expose 
the pith and half the woody axis of the scion. The upper side of the 
same was left covered with its bark, only pared off along the edges, in 
order that the inner bark of both graft and stock might be placed in 
contact. 
The graft being thus prepared, its place was got ready by first slit- 
sing the bark of the stock where the graft was to be inserted; and with a 
little instrument called a messenger, made of bone, and exactly of the 
form of the prepared graft, the bark on each side of the slit was raised 
at once by thrusting the messenger inward. Thus an opening was 
made for the reception of the scion, as soon as the messenger was with¬ 
drawn ; and when thrust home, received a binding of matting, and, 
clayed immediately, the operation was finished. 
This simple and easy method of grafting is expeditiously done, and 
seldom fails. The only care required is in the summer after the graft 
