Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-04-26


TO the ceaseIess round Of just SO many
acres of corn, potatoes, oats, ETC., year
after year, while other branches Of
agriculture are left to the specialists.
A quarter of an acre devoted TO a nur-
sery would be sufficient TO raise one
thousand trees large enough for trans
planting, and would scarcely be missed
from the farm.
The seeds, which may be taken from
the pulp of cider mill, should
be planted just before the ground
freezes in the fall. They may be
planted in hills about as far apart as
corn, and fortified with mixture of
peat and wood ashes, if the land has
been long cultivated, but stable ma
nure and any refuse matter which is
added TO this mixture would improve
ii by giving variety Of elements.
Care should be taken to plant sew
eral times as many seeds in hill as
the number of trees required, because
a large proportion of them are very
liable not to terminate. In regard to
the kind of seed used, seeds from
grated fruit generally produce sickly
trees or none at all: while. OH the
other hand, that the seed has an influ-
ence upon The fruit even after the tree
is grated there is no doubt. We are
therefore TO conclude that the best
seeds 10 use are those from vigorous
trees bearing the best natural fruit.
If these cannot be procured, the next
best resource is the pulp from the
cider mill.
The seedlings should be gradually
thinned ont during the first summer,
until there are but two or three in a
hill, and in the early part of the second
summer one of these should be de-
stroyed, leaving the most thrifty for
grating. Contradictory as the state
ment may seem, if the ground is too
moist il should be stirred often To in
ducc dryness: and if too dry, to ILL
duce moisture; ia the former case ex-
posure to the sun and air sets free the
excess of water, while in the latter the
looscness OF the surface soil, brought
about by frequent and deep cultiva-
ton, allows the moisture to rise more
readily from below.
When the seedlings are one or, AT
most, two years old, they are ready
for grating. This has been practiced
most successfully with small trees in
the following manner: The sciOns are
cut late in the spring before showing
any signs of growing, taking care TO
cut of the twig just little back of
the last years growth, but using only
the last years growth They are
placed in cool cellar in contac, with
the soil, and used after the buds of the
trees begin 10 swell. Ii the eNtremi-
ties Of the scions are soft and imma-
ture they must be cut of and thrown
away, as only the ripensd wood is
suitable to set as scions.
Splice grating is the best adapted
to trees of this size, and, if performed
carefully, nearly always succeeds.
Scarf off the stock and scion about
one and half inch in length, and by
cutting downward in the stock and
upward in the scion tongue is raised
on each which is fitted firmly into the
cut of the other.
Wind around the joint coarse wool
en- yarn, or kind of mating, and
apply wax SO that no air can have
access 10 the joint. This kind of
grating succeeds best when the stock
and scion are of precisely the same
size. Ii they are not Of the same size
great care must be taken to have the
inside bark of the scion and stock
meet on one side Much has been
written about cutting and preserving
scions. hut the simplest method seems
preferable.
Some say cut them in autumn and
pack them in moist sawdust or earth,
while Others recommend, March or
April: but the most successful graft
ing has been done by cutting the
scions when they are used, provided
they are used before the trees begin
to grow in the spring. 1t would be
as impossible TO foretell the exact time
for grating as TO foretell the proper
time for cutting grain, for the time
must of course vary with the forward
ness of the spring.
AS soon as the scions begin to grow,
the sprouts which shoot up from the
roots and stem of the tree must be
rubbed off, or they will deprive the
scion of sap. This process is TO be re-
peated at intervals during the first
season after grating.
A little careful pruning in the latter
part of the first summers growth will
give the gratis symmetrical form,
which cannot so easily be brought
about in their later growth. August
and September, according to locality,
are the best months for pruning, be-
cause then the sap is thick, and hence
the mutilated parts do not bleed as
they would in June, but are soundly
healed over. If il is done early in the
summer, especially in the case of large
trees. the juice flows out freely, black
ening the bark and making an un-
sound place, which, though il may
sometimes heal, retains seed of
decay.
In pruning young trees much waste
wood may be prevented by pinchiDg
of buds at the proper time, and thus
shaping the tree according to ones
taste. Such method is far more
economical and effective than the
wholesale butchering practiced by
professionals with their saws and
pruning hooks; but of course when
early neglect has rendered il imprac-
ticable the latter method must be
adopted.
Ii the soil is dry light mulch can
be profitably applied, or, if this can
not be conveniently procured, few
stones placed about the roots are
good substitute.
Ii weeds and grass are allowed to
grow among the trees they will har-
Dor mice; hence the ground should be