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Grafting

much thicker than the scions, or two scions may be inserted.

Shoulder or Chink Grafting.

This is performed with a shoulder, and someor ring of spongy matter is generally best formed in ripened wood, the cutting, when taken from the mother plant, should contain a part of the former year, or in plants which grow twice a year, of the wood of the former growth; or in the case of times also with a stay at the bottom of the slope. plants which are continually growing, as most It is chiefly used for ornamental trees, where the scion and stock are of the same size.

Root Grafting.

Root grafting is sometimes performed in nurseries on parts of the roots of removed trees, when the proper stocks are scarce; in which case the root of the white thorn has been resorted to as a stock both for the apple and pear. In general, however, a piece of the root of the tree of the same genus is selected, well furnished with fibres, and a scion placed on it in any of the ordinary ways for small stocks. Thus united, they are planted so deep as to cover the ball of clay, and leave only a few eyes of the scion above ground.

In a month after grafting it may be ascertained whether the scion has united with the stock by observing the progress of its buds; but, in general, it is not safe to remove the clay for three months or more, till the graft be completely cicatrized.

The clay may generally be taken off in July or August, and at the same time the ligatures loosened where the scion seems to require more room to expand: a few weeks afterwards, when the parts have been thus partially inured to the air, and when there is no danger of the scion being blown off by winds, the whole of the ligatures may be removed.

To choose Scions.

Scions are those shoots which, united with the stock, form the graft. They should be gathered several weeks before the season for grafting arrives. It is desirable that the sap of the stock should be in brisk motion at the time of grafting; but by this time the buds of the scion, if left on the parent tree, would be equally advanced, whereas the scions, being gathered early, the buds are kept back, and ready only to swell out when placed on the stock. Scions of pears, plums and cherries, are collected in the end of January or beginning of February. They are kept at full length sunk in dry earth, and out of the reach of frost till wanted, which is sometimes from the middle of February to the middle of March.

Scions of apples are collected any time in February, and put in from the middle to the end of March. In July grafting the scions are used as gathered.

To choose Cuttings.

In respect to the choice of cuttings, those branches of trees and shrubs which are thrown out nearest the ground, and especially such as recline, or nearly so, on the earth's surface, have always the most tendency to produce roots. Even the branches of resinous trees, which are extremely difficult to propagate by cuttings, when reclining on the ground, if accidentally or otherwise covered with earth in any part, will there throw out roots, and the extremity of the lateral shoot will assume the character of a main stem, as may be sometimes seen in the larch, spruce and silver fir.

The choice of cuttings then is to be made from the side shoots of plants rather than from their summits or main stems, and the strength and health of side shoots being equal, those nearest the ground should be preferred. The proper time for taking cuttings from the mother plant is when the sap is in full motion, in order that, in returning by the bark, it may form a callus or protruding ring of granular substance between the bark and wood, whence the roots proceed. As this callus evergreen exotics, such wood as has begun to ripen or assume a brownish color. This is the true principle of the choice of cuttings as to time; but there are many sorts of trees, as willow, elder, etc., the cuttings of which will grow almost at any season, and especially if removed from the mother plant in winter, when the sap is at rest.

These ought always to be cut across, with the smoothest and soundest section possible at an eye or joint. And as buds are in a more advanced state in wood somewhat ripened or fully formed than in forming wood, this section ought to be made in the wood of the growth of the preceding season; or as it were in the point between the two growths. It is a common practice to cut off the whole or a part of the leaves of cuttings, which is always attended with bad effects in evergreens, in which the leaves may be said to supply nourishment to the cutting till it can sustain itself. This is very obvious in the case of striking from buds, which, without a leaf attached, speedily rot and die. Leaves alone will even strike root, and form plants in some instances, and the same may be stated of certain flowers and fruits.

Piping.

This is a mode of propagation by cuttings, and is adopted with plants having jointed tubular stems, as the dianthus tribe; and several of the grasses and the arundines may be propagated in this manner. When the shoot has nearly done growing, its extremity is to be separated at a part of the stem where it is nearly indurated or ripened. This operation is effected by holding the root end between the finger and thumb of one hand, below a pair of leaves, and with the other pulling the top part above the pair of leaves, so as to separate it from the root part of the stem at the socket, formed by the axillæ of the leaves, leaving the stem to remain with a tubular termination. These pipings are inserted without any further preparation in finely sifted earth to the depth of the first joint or pipe.

To insert Cuttings.

Cuttings, if inserted in a mere mass of earth, will hardly throw out roots, while, if inserted at the sides of the pots so as to touch the pot in their whole length, they seldom fail to become rooted bottom of the pot; they are then to be plunged plants. The art is to place them to touch the in a bark or hot-bed and kept moist.

To manage Cuttings.

No cutting requires to be planted deep, though the large ought to be inserted deeper than such as are small. In the case of evergreens the leaves should be kept from touching the soil, otherwise they will damp or rot off; and in the case of tubular-stalked plants, which are in general not very easily struck, owing to the water lodging in the tube and rotting the cutting, both ends may be advantageously inserted in the soil, and besides a greater certainty of success, two plants will be produced. Too much light, air, water, heat or cold, are alike injurious. To guard against these extremes in tender sorts, the means hitherto devised is that of inclosing an atmosphere over the cuttings by means of a hand or bell-glass, according to their delicacy. This preserves a uniform stillness and moisture of atmosphere. Immersing the pot in earth has a tendency to preserve a steady, uniform degree of moisture at the roots; and shading, or planting the cuttings if in the open air in a shady situation, prevents the bad effects of excess of light. The only method of regulating the heat is by double or single coverings of glass or mats, or both. A hand-glass placed over a bell-glass will preserve, in a shady situation, a very constant degree of heat.

What the degree of heat ought to be is decided by the degree of heat requisite for the mother plant. Most species of the erica, dahlia, and geranium, strike better when supplied with rather more heat than is requisite for the growth of these plants in green-houses. The myrtle tribe and camellias require rather less; and in general a lesser portion of heat, and of everything else proper for plants, in their rooted and growing state, is the safest.

To sow Seeds with Advantage.

This is the first operation of rearing. Where seeds are deposited singly, as in rows of beans or large nuts, they are said to be planted; where dropped in numbers together, to be sown. The operation of sowing is either performed in drills, patches or broadcast. Drills are small excavations formed with the draw-hoe, generally in straight lines parallel to each other, and in depth and distance apart varying according to the size of the seeds. In these drills the seeds are strewed from the hand of the operator, who, taking a small quantity in the palm of his hand and fingers, regulates its emission by the thumb. Some seeds are very thinly sown, as the pea and spinach; others thick, as the cress and small salading.

Patches are small circular excavations made with the trowel; in these seeds are either sown or planted, thicker or thinner, and covered more or less, according to their natures. This is the mode adopted in sowing in pots, and generally in flower borders.

In broadcas: sowing the operator scatters the seed over a siderable breadth of surface, previously prepared by digging, or otherwise being minutely pulverized. The seed is taken up in portions in the hand and dispersed by a horizontal movement of the arm to the extent of a semicircle, opening the hand at the same time and scattering the seeds in the air so that they may fall as equally as possible over the breadth taken in by the sower at once, and which is generally six feet-that being the diameter of the circle in which his hand moves through half the circumference. In sowing broadcast on beds and narrow strips or borders, the seeds are dispersed between the thumb and fingers by horizontal movements of the hand in segments of smaller circles.

Dry weather is essentially requisite for sowing, and more especially for the operation of covering in the seed, which in broadcast sowing is done by treading or gently rolling the surface, and then raking it; and in drill-sowing by treading in the larger seeds, as peas, and covering with the rake; smaller seeds, sown in drills, are covered with the same implement without treading.

To plant Shrubs and Trees.

Planting, as applied to seeds or seed-like roots, as potatoes, bulbs, etc., is most frequently performed in drills or in separate holes made with the dibbler; in these the seed or bulb is dropped from the hand, and covered with or without treading, according to its nature. Sometimes planting i performed in patches, as in pots or borders, in which case the trowel is the chief instrument used.

Quincunx is a mode of planting in rows, by which the plants in the one row are always opposed to the blanks in the other, so that when a plot of ground is planted in this way the plants appear in rows in four directions.

Planting, as applied to plants already originated, consists generally in inserting them in the soil of the same depth, and in the same position as they were before removal, but with various exceptions.

The principal object is to preserve the fibrous roots entire, to distribute them equally around the stem among the mould or finer soil, and to preserve the plant upright. The plant should not be planted deeper than it stood in the soil before removal, and commonly the same side should be kept towards the sun. Planting should as much as possible be accompanied by abundant watering, in order to consolidate the soil about the roots; and where the soil is dry, or not a stiff clay, it may be performed in the beginning of wet weather, in gardens; and in forest planting, on dry soils, in all open weather during autumn, winter and spring.

To water Gardens.

Watering becomes requisite in gardens for various purposes, as aliment to plants in a growing state, as support to newly-transplanted plants, for keeping under insects, and keeping clean the leaves of vegetables. One general rule must be ever kept in mind during the employment of water in a garden, that is, never to water the top or leaves of a plant when the sun shines. All watering should be carried on in the evening or early in the morning, unless it be confined to watering the roots, in which case transplanted plants, and others in a growing state, may be watered at any time; and if they are shaded from the sun, they may also be watered over their tops. Watering over the tops is performed with the rose, or dispenser attached to the spout of the watering-pot, or by the syringe or engine. Watering the roots is best done with the rose; but in the case of watering pots in haste, and where the earth is hardened, it is done with the naked spout. In new-laid turf, or lawn of a loose, porous soil, and too mossy surface, the water-barrel may be advantageously used. Many kitchen crops are lost, or produced of very inferior quality, for want of watering. Lettuces and cabbages are often hard and stringy, turnips and radishes do not swell, onions decay, cauliflowers die off; and, in general, in dry soils, copious waterings in the evenings, during the dry season, would produce that fullness of succulency, which is found in the vegetables produced in the low countries, and in the Marsh Gardens at Paris; and in this country at the beginning and latter end of the season.

The watering of the foliage of small trees, to prevent the increase of insects, and of strawberries and fruit shrubs, to swell the fruit, is also of im portance.

To water the Foliage of Wall Trees.

Water is to be supplied to a garden from a reservoir, situated on an eminence, a considerable height above the garden walls. Around the whole garden, four inches below the surface of the ground, a groove, between two and three inches deep, has been formed in the walls, to receive a three-quarter inch pipe for conducting the water. About fifty feet distant from each other, are apertures through the wall, two and a half feet high, and ten inches wide, in which a cock is placed, so that on turning the handle to either side of the wall, the water issues from that side. The nozzles of the cocks have screws on each side, to which is attached at pleasure a leathern pipe, with a brass cock and director; roses, pierced with holes of different sizes, being fitted to the latter.