THE CULTIVATOR. 
81 
stays ? Whence this hurried respiration—this strong effort of the 
heart to burst its bands ? which ever should be quiet, but when aroused 
by the imperative impulse of passion, affection, or what you may please 
to call it. Nature has ordered this thing in so positive a way as to ren¬ 
der the penalty of violation so severe, as to awaken all the sympathies 
of the human heart! I have seen the exquisite painting of a shep¬ 
herdess holding a crook, executed by a master painter, but not of mo¬ 
dern date; indeed it did require a perfect pencil. I think some such 
crooks would be a better antidote against nervous affections than the 
best recommended patent nostrums. 
Whence the delightful tints and tinge, and the full blushes of the 
opening rose? Is it by a seclusion from the sweet influence of the 
dawning day? by a sequestered seclusion from the genial radiance of 
light, and the benign influence of soft and sweet salubrious breezes ? 
What delight can surpass the morning dawn and blushing rose ? From 
whence arises the captivating, elastic, buoyant step? By reclining on 
a sofa? I would that maiden sweetness should grow up to matron 
kindness, fineness and firmness. And yet the fairest rose that greets 
the dawn, will wither, like a worthless weed. 
Hence, let our aspirations rise, 
To be renewed above the skits; 
Our hold on life is by affection, 
For nothing else is worth possession. 
I feel some apprehension'of being proscribed, but this is too fine a 
flower to cultivate in the shade—too fine a bird to be shut up in a cage. 
If there is any return to be rendered to those who are devoted to our 
pleasure, and solace our suffering, I trust your gallantry will not leave 
it unrequited. 
Your reference to the improvement of roads, leads to the inquiry, 
who can be indifferent to the importance of this subject, on considering 
that the social relations, even of neighbors, are, in many instances, se¬ 
vered by impracticable roads. Who does not perceive that a good soil 
is worthless, and industry labor in vain, without a market? And of 
what advantage is a market that is inaccessible? To this loss of pre¬ 
cious time and sacrafice of comfort and sociability, let us add the long 
list of heart-rending accidents. 
The aera which most emphatically establishes the distinction between 
ancient and modern men and manners, is the sublime, exquisite art of 
Printing —and yet there are some so bigoted as to be disposed to shut 
up this grand avenue of instruction, delight and reciprocity. If it be 
to conceal their own defects, let us leave them in their own native dark¬ 
ness. Agriculture shall not be so debased, as to reject what advances 
every other occupation of man. There is no science, no art that does 
not require the test, and must be subjected to the skill of the operative. 
But who can sustain the dogma, that simple manipulation alone is suf¬ 
ficient ? Who can bear the reproach of the very dirt under his feet, on 
a good soil, from bad management? And who might not be privileged 
to exult, on the improvement of a poor one? 
Your paper is necessarily limited to the purpose of exiting and sus¬ 
taining an interest in agricultural pursuits, and like an index, 
pointing to the great sources of information. And he who refuses or 
neglects to use it, acts as inconsistently as one who refuses or neglects 
to use a key to unlock a ehest which he knows to contain immense 
treasure. 
Would this western continent have been so discovered ? “ Experien- 
tia docet omnia.” How common is the reminiscent remark and regret; 
if we were to live our lives anew, we would do this and that otherwise. 
Why not, then, avail ourselves by reading, of the experience and obser¬ 
vation of others, and add it to our own acquirements ? The very rea¬ 
son why some will not get information or knowledge, is the very reason 
why they will not receive it. F. 
GRAFTING AND BUDDING FRUIT TREES. 
Friend J. Buel —The Cultivator had'been published more than a 
year before I knew any thing about it. When I casually saw one of 
the numbers I became a subscriber at once, and have ever since perus¬ 
ed its columns with interest, and trust with profit also ; and I doubt 
not but there are hundreds now who would be added to the list of your 
subscribers, if they knew of the work and its intrinsic value. 
I had at first thought of only writing you some observations on graft¬ 
ing and budding, and on the propagation of new varieties, but the subject 
seemed so closely connected with the culture that I determined on pre¬ 
senting the following, which, I think, might enable any one, with a lit¬ 
tle care and observation, to raise apple trees* for his own orchard of a 
superior quality. 
Grafting and budding are very simple operations. With only a few 
minutes instruction, a person may perform either, and in one or two 
days practice he may perform it dexterously. What a pity then that so 
much ignorance prevails on a subject of so much import to our health, 
convenience and comfort. 
*My remarks are principally confined to the culture of apple trees, yet with 
little variation would apply to other fruit trees. 
I have kept a nursery for several years; I was not “ bred” to the 
calling, nor have I received much personal instruction! 
If I should be found capable of adding any thing to the common 
stock of knowledge on this subject, mine, whatever I possess, has been 
principally obtained in the field of practical experiment—so I think this 
communication cannot justly be called “ book” horticulture. 
1st. Sowing, culture, &c. 
In the present state of agricultural knowledge, it is almost super¬ 
fluous to state, that the soil should be rich and highly manured. I think 
that unfermented manure, deeply ploughed under in the fall, befo re 
sowing, whether on sward or otherwise, answers very well. As the 
seeds do not vegetate till in the spring, the manure will become incor- 
porated with the earth, and the earth also pulverized by the frost; after¬ 
wards rotted manure, coal ashes and wood ashes, whether leached cr 
unleached, may be most suitable.* 
In the latter end of the 10th month, (November) is the lime I prefer 
sowing, which may be done in straight parallel rows, three feet and a 
half apart, and two inches deep. If too thick, they may be thinned to 
about six inches; if too thin, the vacancies may be filled up by trans¬ 
planting them soon after they come up, dirt and all, like cabbage. 
The seed of apples made late in cider, sown in the pumice, will an¬ 
swer equally well. If sown in a narrow straight trench, thickly spread 
and covered, not too deep, or mixed with a little earth and exposed in 
heaps they will keep till spring : in which case they should be sown as 
early as the frost goes out of the ground. I have lost both apple and 
thorn sowings even when the seed was duly frosted for want of this 
precaution. 
I advocate the level cultivation. Weeds should not be suffered to 
grow to be pulled out by hand, but the earth frequently stirred and 
kept loose with a narrow hoe or rake. This saves time, as they can 
be gone over with much more expedition than when suffered to get foul, 
and that it promotes their growth must be obvious to ail. If it be in¬ 
tended to graft or bud them at the ground, this should be done when 
they are two years old. 
GRAFTING. 
The mode of grafting which I prefer, is technically called cleft graft* 
ing, and is that most commonly practised in nurseries and in top grafting 
also. As my practice has some peculiarities in its mode, I shall aim a! 
a description of it. The stock may be cut off with an oblique cut; a 
vertical or perpendicular cleft is now to be made across the slope, and 
say an inch and a half deep, with a butcher knife, a new one is best 
that it may be sharp and thin, in order that the stock may be slit apart 
rather than cleft, which leaves it much smoother to receive the pen, 
which latter must now be cut in a perpendicular direction in the form 
of a wedge; the upper part of this wedge must be cut with a shoulder, 
but inasmuch as it should be made with a single cut downward, on each 
side, with a common pen-knife, the shoulder will necessarily be of a 
bevel form, and somewhat scolloping. The part to be inserted, how¬ 
ever, should be twe>> inclined planes, coming together to a point, and a 
little the thickest on the outside, and the slit may now be held open by 
pressing the thumb backward against the inside of the slope on fhe long 
side, and the pen may be pushed downward as far as the shoulder will 
permit, in such manner that the inner bark of the stock, and that of 
the scion may meet exactly together. If the stock does not hold the 
pen firmly, it may be tied with woollen yarn or bass shreds. The earth 
may now be drawn round the scion and pressed firmly about it. If the 
cement was applied according to Hopkins’ recommendation, (see Cul¬ 
tivator, vol. iii. p. 29,) the success would probably be more certain; and 
for top grafting, clay or cement of some kind is indispensable. McMa¬ 
hon says, “ the best time for grafting is just when the buds have swol¬ 
len and are ready to burst,” and this accords with my experience. 
BUDDING., 
I shall now proceed to the consideration of budding, and shall de¬ 
scribe a mode which I think a more expeditious one than any I have ever 
seen described in print. 
Take the scion of the kind intended to be propagated, make a trans¬ 
verse cut pretty close above the bud into the wood, about half way 
round the scion, then from each extremity of this cut let cuts be made 
obliquely, so as to come together about half an inch below the bud, and 
enclosing the bud in the form of an inverted cone. Several may be done 
ready for use, and may readily be plucked off the scion, if it be in good 
order for budding, by taking a close hold of the footstalk of the leaf. 
Then fixing on a smooth part of the stock to be budded, make a hori¬ 
zontal cut quite through to the firm wood; from the middle of this trans¬ 
verse cut make a slit downward, of a length to suit the bud, being care¬ 
ful not to cut too deep; then taking a bud from the twig, which has 
been previously cut round, and holding it in the left hand, proceed to 
separate the bark from the stock clean to the wood on each side, by 
thrusting the point of the knife into the edges of the bark within the 
* I think Coxe states is as an experimental fact, that trees in an orchard grow 
better by being manured with creek mud than stable manure. Why not so in 
a nursery? 
