in the fall, or spring. The soil having been well prepared, and deeply pulverized, is thrown up in beds a few feet wide, and the seed sown in close drills across; or without the beds, it may be sown in broad drills, by hand, or with a machine, the rows at such a distance as to allow of culture by horse-power. It is desirable, in either case, to get an early start and a good stand; the weeds must be kept under from the very first, and not allowed to have the mastery for a single day. Thorough culture during the season, upon a deeply tilled soil, of such a character as to retain moisture, will be found highly advantageous in the production of this crop, and will insure immunity from leaf-blight and other adversities. Some recommend sprouting the seed a little before planting. If it have been kept during the winter mixed with its bulk of sand, which is a good plan, the whole may be subjected to a gentle heat as in a hot-bed, for a few days, just before planting. During this time the mass must be stirred and turned every day, to prevent fermentation and to secure an even start. Whenever the germ makes its appearance at the points of the seeds, which is called pipping, the sowing must begin, and should be done as quickly as possible; the covering is to be slight, and the earth should be friable and not disposed to bake. The depth at which the apple seed is to be covered will depend upon the present and prospective state of the weather, lighter if moist, heavier if dry, for a continued drouth might be fatal to sprouted seed, if it were planted too near the surface; but when the weather is not dry, it is advised that the shallower the seed is sown, the better. The objection has been made to sprouting, that if the process have advanced too far, the seedlings will be apt to have a crook at or near the collar, instead of the straight fusiform appearance they should possess when presented to the grafter.
These seedlings furnish the stocks upon which to work the finer varieties of the apple. They are taken up in the autumn with their long clean roots, which are often longer than their tops, the leaves are stripped off, and they are assorted; the larger are packed away in earth or saw-dust in the grafting department, or heeled-in out of doors, and covered in such a way as to be accessible at any time they may be needed during the winter. The smaller stocks are heeled-in for spring planting in nursery rows for budding, or they may be left in the original rows for another year's growth as seedlings. If the plants have been well grown and not too thick, so that the majority are of sufficient size, it will be better to take them all up at once and assort them as just indicated, otherwise the largest only may be drawn separately when the ground is soft with autumnal rains, leaving the smaller seedlings for another year's growth. In assorting and selling the stocks, nurserymen make about three classes. The very largest, as thick as a lead-pencil, are called extra, or two-year old, and command a higher price. The next size, called 1st class stocks, are large enough for co-aptation to the average scions, and long enough to make two cuts each for grafting; and those that fall below this requisition are considered second class, and are either thrown aside or set out for budding, and for stock or collar-grafting in the rows.
PROPAGATION.—SECTION II.—GRAFTING
A MODIFICATION OF CUTTINGS—SUCCESS DEPENDANT UPON CELL-GROWTH. FORMING A UNION WITH THE STOCK—LIMITS TO GRAFTING DEPENDANT UPON THE ANATOMY OF THE PLANT—PHYSIOLOGICAL BOUNDS—SUCCESS IS IN PROPORTION TO THE AFFINITY—SEVERAL SPECIES AS STOCKS—DISTINCT GENERA—NARROW LIMITS—REQUISITES—EFFECTS OF UNCONGENIAL STOCKS—NATURAL GRAFTING IS INARCHING—GRAFTING BY APPROACH—VARIOUS METHODS OF GRAFTING—WHIP, CLEFT, SADDLE, SIDE, ETC—ILLUSTRATIONS—TYING, WAXING, ETC—RE-GRAFTING OLD ORCHARDS—RENEW SUCCESSIVE PORTIONS OF THE TREE; TOP FIRST—GRAFTING MACHINES—ROOT-GRAFTING—PREPARATION OF THE SCIONS—OF THE ROOTS—PRESERVATION OF THE GRAFTS—DIVISION OF LABOR—DIFFERENT PORTIONS OR SECTIONS OF THE ROOTS—STOCK-GRAFTING—GRAFTING-WAX—SEASONS FOR—PROLONGED—SELECTION OF SCIONS—TIME FOR CUTTING—MODE OF PRESERVING—TREATMENT OF GRAFTS.
Grafting is but a modification of propagation by cuttings. The scion is a cutting of the variety we wish to propagate, which, instead of being committed to the ground to emit its own roots, is placed in contact with tissues of a nature similar to its own, through which it is to form a connection with the roots and the soil. The success of the operation depends upon the formative cell in this instance also, as in the cutting; new cells are formed upon the cut surface, and the intercommunication takes place through them. Hence we have anatomical limits to grafting; there are physiological bounds beyond which we cannot pass, in our combinations of scion and stock. Our success is in the direct ratio of the affinity that exists between them; thus apple grows best on apple, and even among these we find the closest union and the best results, where there is a similarity between the style of growth, and probably in the character of the cells.
We say, as a general rule, that stone fruits must be grafted upon stone fruits, those bearing seeds, upon seed fruit; but there are limits even here which confine us upon one hand, and give us more latitude upon the other. Thus the cherry may be worked upon the wild cherry (Prunus Virginiana) but it forms a very poor union; the pear will grow upon the thorn, which has a very different seed, but the union is very imperfect and the tree is short-lived; the apple would appear to be much nearer of kin, since it belongs to the same genus, but though the pear will grow vigorously upon this stock, it is no more permanent than upon the thorn: either of them will answer when grafted low, or in the root, to start the cutting, as the scion may then be considered, and to sustain it until it shall have supplied itself with roots. In top-grafting the pear upon a tree of either species, it is found essential to success, and it conduces to the greater durability of the tree, for some branches of the original stock to be left intact to secure the circulation of the trunk, as the union of the dissimilar cells is so imperfect that it does not furnish sufficient vent for the sap. In the case of the cherry we find that the varieties appear to have a greater affinity for those of their own race; thus the Dukes and Morellos do well when grafted upon the Morello stocks, whereas the Hearts and Bigarreau sorts do not make a good union upon these stocks, but prefer the Mazzard, which has a freer growth more like their own. Most varieties will do well upon the Mahaleb stock, which is used as a means of dwarfing this fruit, though not a dwarf. Upon the wild cherry, which belongs to quite a different section of the genus, the cultivated varieties will grow, but they form a very imperfect union.
The peach may be worked upon the plum stock, and is claimed to be somewhat dwarfed by it, and to produce superior fruit. This stock is more congenial to the apricot, which is frequently propagated upon it. Both plums and apricots may be worked upon the peach stock, and they will grow very vigorously, as they will upon the wild plum, but they soon over-grow, and are very apt to break off. When either of these species is used as a stock for the plum or apricot, they should be considered merely as a nursing mother, like the apple or thorn to the pear, which may be wanted to help the cutting until it shall be prepared to stand alone, and feed itself from its own roots. In other words, they should be grafted, not budded, into these uncongenial stocks, and the operation should be performed in the collar or below it, in the root, so that the growing scion may be earthed up, and encouraged to furnish itself with a good system of roots of its own. The success will then depend upon the ability of the scion to emit roots freely.
We must never forget that in grafting, we are confined to very narrow limits. Our scion must be of a similar nature with the stock, each must have cells of a similar character, capable of transmitting their nutritious fluids from one to the other. We must recollect likewise, that the parts must be so co-apted that the cells of wood growth shall be brought into as close connection as possible, in both scion and stock; these cells are found in the layer, called the cambium, which is between the wood and the bark. The crude sap from below will often pass from cell to cell, when the elaborated sap of the cells in the scion is wholly unfitted for the formation of wood cells in the stock below it; of course the union in such a case must be very imperfect, and the product of such a grafting will be subject to accident, and will be short-lived, though the result in fruit, while the union continues, may be very precocious, abundant, and of superior flavor.
Natural grafting may often be observed by the student of nature when wandering among his favorites of the sylvan shades. There can be no doubt that the first hint was thus communicated to the early gardeners. In nature we always find the grafting to be inarching, or grafting by approach; two limbs or
