264 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  26,  1903. 
season  at  least.  The  foregoing  ideas  have  been  advanced 
for  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  constantly  looking  out  for 
some  new  “  hobby  ”  connected  with  gardening  ;  but  my 
principal  object  in  dealing  with  the  subject  which  heads 
these  notes  is  to  draw  attention  to  the  grafting  of  fruit 
trees.  The  present  season  is  an  early  one,  and  such  work 
should  therefore  be  performed  at  a  much  earlier  date  than 
last  year.  From  the  middle  of  March  till  the  middle  of 
April  is  usually  considered  a  favourable  period  during  which 
to  gi'aft  Plums  and  early  Cheri’ies,  and  Apples  and  Pears 
a  little  later ;  but  I  find  many  varieties  of  the  former  are 
ciuite  ready.  The  stocks  should,  of  course,  have  been 
headed  back  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  although  I  think  there 
is  an  advantage  in  doing  so,  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary, 
as  I  have  on  several  occasions  headed  trees  back  and 
grafted  them  at  once  with  the  best  of  results.  In  the  case 
of  the  stock,  I  have  found  it  better  to  err  on  the  side  of 
doing  the  work  a  little  late  rather  than  too  early,  because 
unless  the  sap  in  the  stock  is  moving  freely,  the  dormant 
buds  in  the  scion  will  sometimes  wither  before  a  union  is 
effected  ;  and  when  the  buds  in  the  scion  have  started 
before  the  grafting  is  done,  they  soon  die  unless  quickly 
supplied  with  sap  from  the  stock. 
It  is  always  safe  to  advise  that  the  buds  on  the  scions 
used  should  be  dormant,  but  they  will  generally  grow  if 
they  have  started  slightly,  provided  the  stock  is  in  an 
equally  advanced  state.  That  is  the  great  point.  I  men¬ 
tion  this  because  the  grafter  sometimes  runs  short  of  pre¬ 
pared  scions,  and  in  such  cases  they  may  be  cut  from  a 
tree  on  which  the  buds  have  already  started. 
Never  graft  during  boisterous  or  showery  weather,  as 
there  is  much  uncertainty  in  regard  to  results  at  such 
times  ;  whereas  90  per  cent,  of  grafts  will  grow  if  inserted 
under  favourable  conditions.  Where  inferior  varieties  of 
Apples,  Pears,  Plums,  or  CheiTies  exist;  and  the  trees  are 
healthy,  they  should  certainly  be  headed  back  and  grafted 
with  better  kinds.  In  heading  back  large  trees  a  mistake 
often  made  is  to  lop  off  the  branches  too  near  to  the  main 
trunk,  Avith  the  result  that  it  takes  years  for  the  grafted 
tree  to  form  a  good-sized  specimen.  A  far  better  method  is 
to  let  the  old  branches  form  a  framework  having  a  consider¬ 
able  diameter,  so  that  from  twenty  to  fifty  grafts  can  be 
put  on.  In  a  few  years  the  tree  is  then  carrying  good  crops 
of  the  improved  variety,  and  it  is  easy  to  keep  the  old 
branches  free  of  young  wood. 
When  the  right  time  is  chosen  for  carrying  out  the  work, 
there  should  not  be  much  mystery  or  difficulty  about  graft¬ 
ing  successfully.  The  three  forms  of  grafting  principally 
employed  are  "tongue  or  whip,”  "rind,”  and  “notch,” 
the  former  being  principally  followed  in  the  case  of  small 
or  moderate  sized  branches,  and  is  frequently  followed  in 
raising  young  trees.  Nurserymen  seem  to  generally  make 
the  double  tongue,  but  I  cannot  see  that  it  possesses  any 
advantage  over  single  tongue  grafting.  .  Doubtless  the 
"tongueing ’’  was  originally  practised  to  prevent  the  scion 
from  slipping  from  its  position,  and  one  tongue  will  answer 
the  purpose  just  as  well  as  two. 
Rind  grafting  is  quite  simple,  yet  effective.  It  is  per¬ 
formed  by  cutting  quite  through  the  bark,  then  lifting  the 
bark  on  either  side  of  the  cut  with  the  knife,  or  by  forcing 
an  instrument  beneath  similar  in  shape  to  the  prepared 
scion.  The  scion  should  be  prepared  by  making  a  sloping 
cut  on  one  side  l^in  in  length,  and  a  notch  to  rest  on  the  top 
of  the  stock.  This  is  then  pushed  down  beneath  the  bark 
already  prepared.  Notch  grafting  is  performed  by  cutting 
a  triangular  notch  through  the  bark  and  slightly  into  the 
wood,  removing  it,  and  inserting  the  graft  specially  cut  to 
fill  the  cavity.  If  a  strong,  sharp  knife  is  used,  a  splendid 
union  is  generally  the  result,  as  the  bark  fits  exactly  on 
each  side.  Splitting  the  stock  also  answers  well  in  the 
case  of  both  large  and  small  branches,  and  many  who  will 
not  attempt  other  forms  of  grafting  carry  this  out  quite 
easily. 
Grafting  Avax  is  noAv  generally  used  in  preference  to  clay, 
but  there  are  very  feAV  of  those  recommended  for  use  in  a 
cold  state  Avhich  are  satisfactory.  Two  years  ago  I  used  a 
wax  made  from  a  receipt  of  the  giver,  and  not  a  single 
scion  grew.  I  discarded  that  particular  kind  in  favour  of 
one  used  in  a  warm  state,  and  now  my  attempts  are  in¬ 
variably  successful.  In  outlying  districts  it  is  not  always 
conA-enient  to  get  all  the  ingredients  given  in  receipts  for 
making  mastics.  I  therefore  give  the  following  simple 
receipt,  Avhich  I  have  found  quite  as  satisfactory  as  the 
moi-e  complicated  ones.  Place  4oz  of  black  pitch  and  loz 
of  unsalted  lard  in  an  iron  pot,  melt  thoroughly,  and  apply 
Avith  a  brush  Avhile  AA^arm.  This  Avill  not  dry  very  hard  for  a 
day  or  two,  but  is  in  eA-ery  AAmy  satisfactory.  ^  _ 
Roses  in  the  open  air  are  not  often  grafted,  but  I  find  it 
an  excellent  method  of  establishing  a  neAv  variety  on  an 
old  one,  especially  in  the  case  of  strong  groAAing  climbers, 
which  are  required  to  cover  their  allotted  space  quickly. 
These  should  be  operated  upon  at  once,  and  any  of  the 
usual  methods  of  grafting  seems  to  ansAver.  I  grafted  some 
strong  groAvers  in  a  AA'arm  position  a  fortnight  ago,  and’ 
they  are  noAA'  groAving  freely. — W^aravick. 
- - 
Prevention  of  Corruption  Bill. 
The  Lord  Chancellor  recently  moved  the  second  reading  of  a 
Bill  for  the  better  prevention  of  corruption.  He  said  that  the 
practice  against  AA’hich  the  Bill  AAas  directed,  of  giving  secret 
commissions.  Avas,  he  regretted  to  believe,  very  niucli  on  the 
increase.  His  lordship  quoted  from  the  letter  Avhich  appeared 
in  The  Times  on  the  2nd  inst.  from  a  member  of  a  leading  firm  of 
horticulturists  complaining  of  the  extent  to  Avhich  bribery 
Avas  carried  on  among  gardeners,  and  representing  themselves 
as  the  helpless  victims  of  a  practice  which  they  deplored.  The 
Bill  provided,  inter  alia,  that  “if  any  agent  corruptly  and  Avith- 
out  the  knoAA’ledge  of  his  principal,  accepts  or  obtains,  or  agrees 
to  accept  or  attempts  to  obtain,  from  any  person,  for  himself, 
or  for  any  other  person,  any  gift  or  consideration  as  an  induce¬ 
ment  or  rc'Avard  for  doing  or  forbearing  to  do'  any  act  in  relation 
to.liis  principal’s  busine-ss,  or  for  showing  or  forbearing  to  show 
favour  or  di.sfavour  to  any  person  in  relation  to  hts  principal’.? 
business;  or  if  any  person  corruptly  gives  or  offers  any  gift  or 
consideration  to  any  agent  as  an  inducement  or  reward  .  .  .  . 
shall  be  guilty  of  a' misdemeanour,  and  shall  be  liable  on  convic¬ 
tion  on  indictment  to  imprisonment.”  The  Bill  Avas  read  a  second 
time. 
After  the  letter  in  The  Times,  referred  to  above,  there  followed 
another  from  a  Mr.  EdAvard  Fry,  aa’Iio^  wrote  as  folloAvs :  “  One 
Avould  have  thought  that,  a  leading  firm  in  ai  great  Avay  of  business, 
feeling  that  the  custom  is  deplorable,  might  have  had  the  courage 
of  their  conscience  and  have  stood  out  against  Avhat  they  know  to 
be  AA'rong.  To  say  that  it  is  done  by  all  horticulturists,  if  that  is 
the  suggestion,  Avould  not  be  true.  It  is  common,  but  not 
universal.  I  have  denlt  AA'ith  several  firms  of  seedsmen  and 
nurserymen;  some  firms  of  great  pretensions  have  offered  my 
gardener  a  commission,  but  some  have  not.,  and  I  have  before 
me  a  printed  notice  issued  by  a  well-knoAvn  nurservunan  declining 
'to  recognise  the  common  practice  of  paying  to.  gardeners,  with- 
their  employer’s  knowledge  or  consent,  commission  upon  or  other 
rcAv’ard  for,  orders  received  by  it  (the  firm),  for  their  gardens. 
I  commend  to  the  leading  firm  the  use  of  such  a  printed  form 
enclosed  with  all  accounts  sent  out. 
“  But,  argues  the  firm,  this  commission  do.eis  the  purchaser 
no  harm  ;  ‘  prices,’  they  say,  ‘  are  fixed  by  competition  a.nd  by 
the  quality  of  the  stock  supplied,  and  these  '  presents  ’  in  no 
way  affect  such.’  Surely  this  is  nonsense:  for,  if  X  be  the 
figure  for  which  the  vendor  can  afford  tO'  sell — i.e.,  the  sum  wiDi 
Avhich  he  is  content  if  it  remain  in  his  till — then  he  can  sell  for  X 
if  he  pays  no  commission ;  but  he  must  charge  X  plus  the  com¬ 
mission  if  he  has  to-  pay  it. 
“  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  master  is  injured  by  his  man  s  being 
seduced  from  his  single-eyed  service  to  his  employer.  Everyone 
knows  that  a  man  avIio  receives  a  percentage  must  de,sire,  or  have 
a  tendency  to.  desire,  that  the  sum  on  Avhich  it  is  calculated  shall 
be  large ;  and  the  bribed  gardener  has  an  interest  to  order  more 
shrubs  or  Orchids  than  his  employer  requires,  and  an  interest 
that  those  orders  shall  be  executed  at  high  prices.” 
- - 
Professor  L.  H.  Bailey  has  been  appointed  director  of  the 
Cornell  University  Experiment  Station  at  Ithaca,  N.Y. 
Additions  to  London  Parks. — The  London  County  Council 
have  formally  dedicated  to  the  use  of  the  public  the  land  which 
has  been  seciired  for  the  extension  of  Brockvi'eH  Park,  Heme  Hill. 
Mr.  John  Piggott  said  that  when  the  County  Council  came  into 
existence  in  1891  there  there  were  40  open  spaces,  with  an  area 
of  2,656  acres;  to-day  there  were  102  open  spaces,  AA’ith  an  area 
of  4,027  acres.  In  the  course  of  a  short  speech.  Lord  Monkswell 
said  “  The  Avork  of  the  County  Council  is  to  fill  the  parks,  empty 
the  hospitals,  and  discharge  the  doctors.” 
