The Farmers' Column.

Bruce Herald, Volume XI, Issue 1015, 4 June 1878, Page 7

The Farmers' Column.

Xk'k/kk'XXkX\ 'kk "'..■'. ■ : .:.-TBE-iiSAaA^"j^k^. OBAFTIVQ. There is not bne,7among, all the processes ; of agticulture, that is capable of. yielding so rich a return for a trifle of trouble as the grafting of a wild tree with a fruitful '.' and enjoyable variety. One minute will suffice for the grafting of the top of a young seedling, and this minute's work will ■ affect a change 'of its whole; nature, and of all its produce, throughout the ten, twenty, or fifty years of its future growth and fruitage. Every boy should learn to graft. It is one of the simple, useful, practical, and everywhere practicable things, that should be part of common school instruction. The writer once knew some young women who could pare and"'set a graft or bud neatly, and with entire success, and who took pride and pleasure in practising the art. Young practitioners may find some hints useful, and here are a few. Choose sound, firm, ripe shoots, grown in full light, for; the scions, and let them be entirely dormant when cut and set. With. the cherry .and plum, it is indispensable to graft before the^ouds swell in- the least ; apple and pear will do much later, but all make more growth from the graft; and fewer wild shoots below and around it, if set quite early. The risk with early grafting is X from dry winds 'parclnng the graft, while Ait as . yet receives little moisture from the scarcely started ascending flow of watery sap. This is prevented by using sound scions, by protecting them with a film of wax or a fillet of paper, and. by using thicker- wax and tying it in place so that it cannot become in :"the least detached, to, admit desiccating air. A temperature of 50 or 60 deg., and dry i weather, are most favorable for the operation. This wax should be made of such a temper as to work -nicely at that temperature ; not so soft as to be very sticky, nor so hard as not to stick or not to manipulate well. It should handle like rather tough putty in the temperature of ordinary spring water. There must be no free grease Or oil ro stop or enter the pores of the bark. Whip or splice grafting is the most convenient and the safesbi It is practised on small shoots of the size of a lead-pencil. The wax is then applied from a rollYof strips of half-worn muslin soaked "in it while melted by, moderate heat. A piece is taken long enough for each graft; a strip £ to £ inch wide and 2 to 3 mches long, wrapped on spirally, will completely cover and secure the joined parts. A good small knife, the roll of waxed cloth, and the scions are all that need be carried. But a few strings, a. hone orfine whetstone, and a register for entering the names, etc., should be part of the outfit.— ' New York Tribune.' : MISCELLANEOUS. ; ,.... ! He " houses "his farm implements in the corners of the fence; his fowls roost in trees during the storms of winter ; his manure: pile reaches into a roadside ditch and, wiping his nose on his coat-sleeve, he makes plaintive complaint that farming don't pay. I A Kansas farmer claims to have " accidentally " found ouft, while living in Illinois, that the fragrance of the white petunia is aj deadly poison to the Colorado beetle, and that the easy way to destroy this pest "by the shovel-full " is to I "plant the white petunia around the po- ! tato patch and scattered through it." If this is true, then some people who can't appreciate flowers for their beauty may couie to like at least one of them for its direct practical use.