favorite method of multiplying varieties has some advantages over grafting, and is by many preferred on account of the facility with which it can be performed, and because it affords a means of increasing sorts in the nursery that have not been grafted, and of filling up gaps in the rows where grafts have missed; and it has been reported, that budded trees of certain varieties were more hardy than those which had been root-grafted. The objections, if such they can be called, are, that the period of performing the operation is limited, and that the young shoots from the buds generally have a curve that makes a crook or blemish in the tree when it goes from the nursery—neither of these objections constitute any real difficulty; on the contrary, the advantages quite over-balance them: as already suggested, it is a good plan for double-working certain varieties. The season for budding is at the period when the longitudinal growth of the stock is nearly completed, and when the wood-forming process is most active, so that the bark will part most freely from the wood—in other words, while the stock is still quite active in its circulation, but has, in a measure, made its growth. The scions used must have so far completed their growth for the season as to have filled their buds handsomely, but yet be so young as to allow the wood to part freely from the bark of the shields when they are cut. Those who desire to bud early, may accelerate the development of the buds by nipping off the points of the shoots to be used, this, in a few days, causes the buds to swell. The season of budding will thus depend upon the high culture of the nursery, and upon the condition of the trees from which the scions of buds are to be cut. Budding should never be done unless the stock is in perfectly good condition, if otherwise, it is labor lost. The old writers recommended damp, cloudy, or even showery weather; but under our bright summer skies our large establishments would never be able to dispose of their work, were they to wait for such suitable weather. Fortunately it is not found necessary to select such a season, but the greatest success attends the budding that is done in fine bright and even hot weather. The scions should be kept wrapped in a damp cloth, excluded from the rapid evaporation to which they would be subjected if exposed—this is better than to keep them in water, which exhausts them by dilution of the sap they contain. The scions should have their leaves removed, so soon as they are cut from the tree; this is done with a knife or the thumb nail, leaving a short piece of the leaf-stalk for convenience when inserting the buds.
Spring budding is sometimes desirable, either to fill up gaps in the nursery-rows, or to secure varieties, the scions of which may have been received too late for grafting, or when it is desirable to multiply them as much as possible, by making every bud grow. When the operation is to be performed in the spring, the scions must be kept back, by placing them in the ice-house until the stocks are in full leaf, when the bark will peel readily, and the buds may be inserted with a pretty fair prospect of success; of course, the American method must be used in this case, as the wood and bark of the dormant scion will not separate.
The stocks should be cut down as early in the spring as the buds begin to swell, with a sharp knife, applied just above the bud, and on the same side; the whole upper portion of the stock must be removed by a clean cut; this is better than to leave a stump of three or four inches, as is often recommended, as a support to which to tie up the buds in their tender growth. All shoots from the stock should be rubbed out while young; this may need repeating a second time.
If the stocks were strong, the buds will make handsome sturdy trees the first season; the branched form may be assisted by pinching the points when a few inches high, as recommended with the grafts. Two year old stocks should make pretty trees, at one year old from the bud.
PROPAGATION.—SECT. IV.—THE NURSERY
APOLOGY—NURSERYMEN NEED NOT BE JEALOUS—SITE AND SOIL—ROOTS AFFECTED BY SOIL—FIBROUS ROOTS DESIRABLE—ROOT PRUNING—THE PLOW PRUNER—DIGGING TREES—HIGH MANURING—OBJECTIONS—CROWDING THE ROWS IS STILL WORSE—PREPARATION OF NURSERY SOIL—DRAINING—LAYING OUT—DISTANCES—BEDDING APPLE GRAFTS—MULCHING—THE ROLLER AS A CULTIVATOR—LAYING BY TREES FOR WINTER WITH THE PLOW—THE SUBSOIL LIFTER—THE PRONGED HOE—THOROUGH PREPARATION OF CUTTING BEDS—MANAGEMENT OF CUTTINGS—AUTUMNAL PLANTING—WINTER MULCHING—GRAPE CUTTINGS—FALL PLANTING—LONG CUTTINGS—SHORT CUTTINGS—TRIMMING—VALUE OF THE LEAVES—STOCKY TREES.—SIDE BRANCHES—SHORTENING-IN—WHEN TO REMOVE—HEADING-IN THE TREES—WHEN TO DO IT—AGE OF TREES FOR PLANTING—MAIDEN TREES—DISADVANTAGES OF LARGE TREES—BENEFITED BY ROOT PRUNING—THE HOME NURSERY—FIELD'S PLAN—THE NURSERY ORCHARD OF WHITNEY—WINTER KILLING—PREVENTION OF BY EARLY RIPENING THE WOOD—INJURIOUS ANIMALS—MOLES—MICE—RABBITS—PREVENTIVES—INSECTS.
The Nursery.—Be not alarmed, brother nurseryman, think not that all the arcana of your craft are to be exposed to the public; one small chapter cannot injure you, even were it wise and proper to retain knowledge exclusively in the hands of the guild; on the other hand, ye need not be afraid that one who owes you so much would turn tell-tale, and expose all your weaknesses to the gaze of the multitude. From my friends in the craft, the many intelligent men and keen observers, who have ever been foremost in the ranks of our country's pomologists, no censure is apprehended for attempting to dash off a few brief directions for the amateur, or even the nurseryman, who is just beginning to pursue as a business the pleasant occupation of growing trees. Any censure from others, if such there be, who would feel afraid to trust their knowledge to the world, and who might think in this enlightened age that such a thing as secrets of the trade could be long retained in their own hands,—any censure, from such a source, would fall harmless—it is not dreaded. Indeed, though not of the trade, it would be easy to expose the ignorance that is sure to be found among those who might claim to be the exclusive conservators of knowledge, such however is not the object in view, it is rather to extend useful knowledge, to popularize it and to bring it within the reach of those who may need it, that this chapter is undertaken; and the labor is the more willingly entered upon, in the firm conviction that the more the knowledge of plants and the love for them is diffused among the masses of our population, the greater will be the success of those who are engaged as professional nurserymen and gardeners, who need not fear the competition of amateurs, but should rather encourage it, upon the score of such persons being and continuing to be their best customers—if not from any higher and more noble sentiments of affiliation with men of congenial tastes and pursuits.
Site and Soil for the Nursery.—A somewhat elevated position should be selected for the ground that is to be appropriated for the production of trees; the surface water should be able to escape rapidly, instead of standing in the paths, and furrows, and trenches. The fresh air should be able to blow freely over the young trees, swaying them about, trying their fibres, and at the same time giving them new strength and vigor: not that they should be too much exposed to the rude blasts, as they might be upon the vast savannas of the West, where a protecting belt of deciduous and evergreen trees, to a moderate extent, will be found of service, and conducive to the healthy development of young trees in the nursery. But even the naked prairie, exposed for miles in every direction, would offer a better location for the nursery, than a few acres cleared out among the heavy timber. Here the little trees, if crowded together, must be drawn up to meet the light, and will be poorly furnished with lateral branches, and unprepared to meet the rude battle with the elements that awaits them in their future orchard homes, which, indeed, too often become rather their graves, into which they are thrust, buried, not planted, and whence they rise no more, but after a fruitless struggle, dwindle and die.
A somewhat elevated situation is also valuable, on account of its greater probable immunity from frost, than a lower level; and this is often a matter of great importance in the successful cultivation of fruit trees.
The soil should be a good strong sandy loam, one that contains the needful elements for the growth of trees, and at the same time has a composition that will freely permit the passage of water through it, and be easily worked by the cultivator. Heavy soils, abounding in clay, are strong; but they are more retentive of water, they require more labor to keep them in a friable condition, and they are sometimes objectionable on account of the character of the roots produced in them. These are less abundantly furnished with fibres, as a general rule, when the tree has been grown in a stiff clay, than when
