194 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 27, 1859. 
beat the regular gardeners, because they will have less occasion 
to trouble themselves about this atmospheric-moisture question 
so far as the nights are concerned. They would make a step 
farther in advance, by using double roofs of clear glass for plants 
requiring high, moist temperature. The air contained between 
the glass roofs would lessen the radiation of heat, and, con¬ 
sequently, prevent the escape of vapour by condensation. 
R. Fish. 
WELLINGTONIA GIGANTEA, AZALEA INDICA, 
AND OSAGE ORANGE. 
There is a fine specimen of Wellingtonia gigantea at Fairlawn, 
the seat of— Ridgway, Esq. It was planted in May, 1856, the 
tree being then ten inches high ; and in October last was nine 
feet eight inches in height, and so densely foliaged that no part 
of the stem was visible for more than five feet high, the plant 
forming a perfect cone. The bole of the tree also assumes that 
sturdy character at the bottom which is so common with small 
plants; the circumference at tho collar being twenty-two inches. 
The situation it is placed in is quite exposed, being in the park 
with a railing round it. 
In the shrubbery near to it were several fine specimens of 
shrubs and Conifers in excellent health ; not the least remarkable 
being some fine plants of Azalea Indicat densely clothed with 
foliage of the deepest green, and giving promise of abundance of 
flowers Mr. Ross, the gardener, told me that when any plant 
they had in the plant-houses became sickly or unsightly in any 
way it was turned out, and invariably recevered itself and looked 
well. That much of this success i3 due to the soil and situation 
there cannot be a question. The natural soil seemed to be a 
light-coloured hazel mould with a gravelly bottom; but some 
excellent peat had been added to plant the more valuable plants 
in, and everything capable of enduring the winter had been tried. 
The situation is somewhat elevated; but there is higher ground 
to the north and west of it. 
Mr. Ross says that in a general way they have less frost than 
is felt in other places in the immediate neighbourhood; and as a 
proof of the latter opinion it is only necessary to look to the 
many liard-wooded plants of generally esteemed tender habits 
living through the winter without any protection—not the least 
remarkable among them being fine hedges of the Osage Orange, 
which, though only planted three years, looked formidable and 
good, and presented an interesting appearance. Fairlawn is a 
few miles from Sevenoaks, the surrounding country being famous 
for hardy fruits.—J. Robson. 
THE SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 
( Continued from page 112.) 
Although the sap increases in specific gravity, and consequently 
obtains an accession of solid matter during its progress up the 
stem, yet the matter thus obtained is not of paramount im¬ 
portance, nor absolutely controlling the subsequent changes to 
be effected; for in such case the Green Gage would be altered 
by its Plum stock, and the Nonpareil by its Crab stem. So far 
from this being the case, the old gardener’s maxim—“ The graft 
overruletli the stock quite,” is consonant with truth, though it 
is to be taken with some reservation. The graft prevails and 
retains its qualities, yet the stock has the power of influencing 
its productiveness as well as the quality of the fruit. Thus, a 
tree having an expansive foliage and robust growth, indicative of 
large sap vessels and vigorous circulation, should never be grafted 
upon a stock oppositely characterised, for the supply of sap will 
not be sufficient: illustrations are afforded by the Codlin never 
succeeding so well on a Crab, nor a Bigarreau on a wild Cherry, 
as they do on freer-growing stocks. Indeed, we have no doubt 
that every tree and shrub succeeds best, is most productive, 
and most free from disease, if it be supplied with sajs from roots 
and through a stem of its own peculiar kind. This is evident 
to common sense ; nor woidd any scion be grafted upon a stock 
of another species or variety, if it were not that such stocks are 
most easily obtainable, or for producing some alteration in the 
habit of the plant, or to fit it for some particular soil. 
For example: our choicest Cherries are grafted or budded upon 
the wild Cherry only because of its being easily obtained j and 
every one must have noticed the frequently occurring conse¬ 
quence, an enlargement, appearing like a wen, encircling” the tree 
just above where the graft and the stock joined—the growth of 
the former having far outstripped that of the latter. 
The results from grafting upon stocks differing from the scions 
in their ratio of growth have thus been illustrated by M. Turpin : 
Flo. l. 
Fig. 1. a Stem of a Black-heart Cherry, of soft texture and free growth. 
b The stock, being- of the Bird Cherry, hard-wooded, and slow in growth. 
c The scar at the point of junction, the swelling occasioned by the sap 
being cheeked there in its descent. 
If a tree could be nourished from its own roots—from organs 
assigned by its Creator as those best suited to supply the most 
appropriate quantity and quality of sap, there can be no doubt that 
it would be productive of benefit in a soil and climate natural to 
it; and this desideratum seems tobesecuredbytheplan suggested 
by M. Aibrct. In the instances of Apples and Pears—and we see 
no reason forbidding its adoption to any other grafted tree—he 
recommends the grafts always to be inserted close to the surface 
of the ground, or they might be even rather below the surface, 
by scooping out the earth around the stems of the stocks. When 
planted out, the lowest extremity of the graft should be about 
four inches below the surface. After two or three years, at the 
close of June, the soil should be removed, and just above the 
junction of the graft and stock, with a gouge, one-fourth of the 
bark removed by four cuts on opposite sides of the stem; the 
cuts being deep enough to remove the inner bark, and the 
wounds covered immediately with rich soil, formed of one part 
putrescent cowdung and two parts maiden loam. If kept con¬ 
stantly moist with water, and occasionally with liquid manure, 
roots will usually be speedily emitted, especially if the place 
where a bud once was formed be thus kept moist beneath the 
soil. 
But the stock has some other influence over the sap, besides 
limiting the quantity of sap supplied to the scion—an influence not 
only arising from the size of its vessels, but from its susceptibility 
to heat. It has a further influence over the scion by the sap 
becoming more rich, indicated by its acquiring a greater specific 
gravity in some stocks than in others, during its upward pro¬ 
gress. The specific gravity of the sap of a Black Cluster Tine 
stock on which a Black Hamburgh had been grafted was, when 
obtained six inches from the ground, T003, and at five feet from 
the ground T006 ; but the same Black Hamburgh, growing upon 
its own roots, had specific gravities at corresponding heights of 
1*001 and 1*009. This increase is of great importance to a tree’s 
growth when the quantity of sap passing annually through its 
vessels is considered. The exact amount of this it is perhaps 
impossible to discover, but its extent may be appi'eciated by the 
quantity of moisture their roots are known to imbibe, and by 
the facts that a small Vine-branch has poured out 16 ozs. of sap 
in twenty-four hours; a Birch tree a quantity equal to its own 
weight during the bleeding season ; and a moderate-sized Maple 
about 200 pints during the same period. 
The habit of the stock also is of much more importance than 
is usually considered. If it grows more rapidly, or has larger 
sap-vessels than the scion or bud, an enlargement occurs below 
these j but if they grow more rapidly than the stock, an enlarge¬ 
ment takes place just above the point of union. In either case 
the tree is usually rendered temporarily more prolific; but in the 
case where the stock grows most slowly the productiveness is 
often of very short duration, the supply of sap annually becom¬ 
ing less and less sufficient to sustain the enlarged production of 
blossom and leaves. This very frequently occurs in the freer- 
growing Cherries when inserted upon the wild species ; and still 
