The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-04-29
Questions Asked and Answered.

Questions Asked and Answered.
G. A. c., Post Mills, Vt, asks:
l. What is the best time to graft apple
trees, and how is it done? 2. Where can
| get some cions? 3. How do you make
grating wax? 4. Can you graft the
pear on the apple tree?"
REPLY. The best time to graft
apple trees is in the spring, after the
frost is out of the ground, but before
the buds open. But plums and cher
ries should be grated before the frost is
out. The methods of grating cannot be
described without pictures, so that they
can be properly understood. You must
either see it done, or buy book in
which the art is both described and pic
tured. The best book is " Barry's
Fruit Garden" which tells about grow
ing and propagating all kinds of fruit
grown in this country. 1t costs $3.50,
and any bookseller will order it for you.
2. Wherever there is an orchard con-
tanning healthy trees of the kinds you
want. Cions are best cut in the fall,
wintered by packing in sawdust from
the green log, and kept in cool cellar.
Keep the box covered to prevent dry
ing. If sawdust cannot be had, get
swamp moss, and wiring all the water
you can out of it before packing. If
the packing is net, instead of damp, the
cions will rot. Cions taken from the
trees now, unless of very hardy kinds,
may not grow, owing to the hard win
ter. See that the wood is green with
out any discoloration, and always use
the last years growth for cions.
3. An old rule for making grating
wax is four parts of resin, two parts
bees-waX, and one part tallOw (by
weighD melted together and we'll
stirred before cooling. When nearly
cool, grease your hands and work it
like candy until nearly white. But this
wax is little too hard, and sometimes
cleaves off. The following is better:
-Four parts resin, one part bees-wax and
one and half parts tallow. Some use
a harder wax early and a softer late,
thus: Four parts resin, one part bees
wax, two parts tallow, for April; for
May one and half parts tallow; and
for June but one part tallow. The
last will work well in April, during
warm weather. Use good clean resin,
pure bees-wax, and nicely rendered tai
low. We like mutton tallow better
than beef. Don't use any that has salt
in it.
A. The cions will take, but do not
make a good union, and soon blow out
or break out.
"YOUNG FARMER" New Boston,
n. H., says: " have ton of plaster,
slightly damaged. /. How can / use it
to the best advantage? 2. have used
lime on meadow land with good sue
cess; will plaster work as well there, or
should it be used on drier soil? 3. In
using burnt bone, ashes and bean meal
can the bean meal (nitrogen) be left out
to advantage for any crops? A. have
heard that where barnyard manure is
spread fertilizer need have no nitro
gen, as the manure contains an excess
of it for most crops. If spread twenty
loads of manure to the acre, and put on
a light dressing of the burnt bone mix
ture instead of phosphate, could it be
used successfully without nitrogen for
corn? 5. How much should be applied
per acre?
REPLY. You do not state in what
way the plaster is damaged. If il is
lumpy from being wet, it must be made
fine again. If made as fine as before
it will be just as good. In Jumps, even
small ones, it does little good. One to
two hundred pounds of plaster per acre
is enough for one application. If you
cannot SOW that quantity on an acre,