Manual of Gardening Part 14

"In addition to the preservation of decayed specimens by filling the cavities, as above outlined, it has been proposed to strengthen the tree by treating it as shown in Fig. 162. Young saplings of the same species, after having become established as shown, are grafted by approach to the mature specimen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 163. Faulty methods of bracing a crotched tree. The lower method is wholly wrong. The upper method is good if the bolt-heads are properly counter-sunk and the bolts tightly fitted; but if the distance between the branches is great, it is better to have two bolts and join them by hooks, to allow of wind movements.]

"Injury frequently results from error in the method of attempting to save broken, or to strengthen and support weak branches that are otherwise healthy. The means used for supporting cracked, wind-racked, and overladen branches which show a tendency to split at the forks are bolting and chaining. The practice of placing iron bands around large branches in order to protect them has resulted in much harm; as the tree grows and expands, such bands tighten, causing the bark to be broken and resulting after a few years in a partial girdling (Fig. 163).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 164. Trees ruined to allow of the pa.s.sage of wires.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 165. Accommodating a wall to a valuable tree.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 166. The death of a long stub.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 167. Bungling pruning.]

"To bolt a tree correctly is comparatively inexpensive. The safest method consists in pa.s.sing a strong bolt through a hole bored in the branch for this purpose, and fastening it on the outside by means of a washer and a nut. Generally the washer has been placed against the bark and the nut then holds it in place. A better method of bolting, and one which insures a neat appearance of the branch in addition to serving as the most certain safeguard against the entrance of disease, is to counter-sink the nut in the bark and imbed it in portland cement. The hole for the sinking of the nut and washer is thickly coated with lead paint and then with a layer of cement, on which are placed the nut and washer, both of which are then imbedded in cement. If the outer surface of the nut be flush with the plane of the bark, within a few years it will be covered by the growing tissue.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 168. The proper way to saw off a large limb. A cut is first made on the under side to prevent splitting down; then it is cut on the upper side. Then the entire "stub" is removed close to the trunk.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 169. A weak-bodied young tree well supported; padding is placed under the bandages.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 170. The wrong way of attaching a guy rope.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 171. An allowable way of attaching a guy rope.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 172. The best way of attaching a guy rope, if a tree must be used as support.]

"The inner ends of the rods in the two branches may be connected by a rod or chain. The preference for the chain over the rod attachment is based on the compressive and tensile stresses which come on the connection during wind storms. Rod connections are preferred, however, when rigidity is required, as in unions made close to the crotch; but for tying two branches together before they have shown signs of weakening at the fork, the chain may best be used, as the point of attachment may be placed some distance from the crotch, where the flexibility factor will be important and the strain comparatively small.

Elms in an advanced stage of maturity, if subjected to severe climatic conditions, often show this tendency to split. These trees, especially, should be carefully inspected and means taken to preserve them, by bolting if necessary."

[Ill.u.s.tration: IX. A rocky bank covered with permanent informal planting.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 173. A method of saving valuable trees along streets on which heavy lowering of grade has been made.]

The ill.u.s.trations, Figs. 164-173, are self-explanatory, and show poor practice and good practice in the care of trees.

_The grafting of plants._

Grafting is the operation of inserting a piece of a plant into another plant with the intention that it shall grow. It differs from the making of cuttings in the fact that the severed part grows in another plant rather than in the soil.

There are two general kinds of grafting--one of which inserts a piece of branch in the stock (grafting proper), and one which inserts only a bud with little or no wood attached (budding). In both cases the success of the operation depends on the growing together of the cambium of the cion (or cutting) and that of the stock. The cambium is the new and growing tissue lying underneath the bark and on the outside of the growing wood.

Therefore, the line of demarcation between the bark and the wood should coincide when the cion and stock are joined.

The plant on which the severed piece is set is called the stock. The part which is removed and set into the stock is called a cion if it is a piece of a branch, or a "bud" if it is only a single bud with a bit of tissue attached.

The greater part of grafting and budding is performed when the cion or bud is nearly or quite dormant. That is, grafting is usually done late in winter and early in spring, and budding may be performed then, or late in summer, when the buds have nearly or quite matured.

The chief object of grafting is to perpetuate a kind of plant which will not reproduce itself from seed, or of which seed is very difficult to obtain. Cions or buds are therefore taken from this plant and set into whatever kind of plant is obtainable on which they will grow. Thus, if one wants to propagate the Baldwin apple, he does not for that purpose sow seeds thereof, but takes cions or buds from a Baldwin tree and grafts them into some other apple tree. The stocks are usually obtained from seeds. In the case of the apple, young plants are raised from seeds which are secured mostly from cider factories, without reference to the variety from which they came. When the seedlings have grown to a certain age, they are budded or grafted, the grafted part making the entire top of the tree; and the top bears fruit like that of the tree from which the cions were taken.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 174. Budding. The "bud"; the opening to receive it; the bud tied.]

There are many ways in which the union between cion and stock is made.

Budding may be first discussed. It consists in inserting a bud underneath the bark of the stock, and the commonest practice is that which is shown in the ill.u.s.trations. Budding is mostly performed in July, August, and early September, when the bark is still loose or in condition to peel. Twigs are cut from the tree which it is desired to propagate, and the buds are cut off with a sharp knife, a s.h.i.+eld-shaped bit of bark (with possibly a little wood) being left with them (Fig.

174). The bud is then shoved into a slit made in the stock, and it is held in place by tying with a soft strand. In two or three weeks the bud will have "stuck" (that is, it will have grown fast to the stock), and the strand is cut to prevent its strangling the stock. Ordinarily the bud does not grow until the following spring, at which time the entire stock or branch in which the bud is inserted is cut off an inch above the bud; and the bud thereby receives all the energy of the stock.

Budding is the commonest grafting operation in nurseries. Seeds of peaches may be sown in spring, and the plants which result will be ready for budding that same August. The following spring, or a year from the planting of the seed, the stock is cut off just above the bud (which is inserted near the ground), and in the fall of that year the tree is ready for sale; that is, the top is one season old and the root is two seasons old, but in the trade it is known as a one-year-old tree. In the South, the peach stock may be budded in June or early July of the year in which the seed is planted, and the bud grows into a saleable tree the same year: this is known as June budding. In apples and pears the stock is usually two years old before it is budded, and the tree is not sold until the top has grown two or three years. Budding may be performed also in the spring, in which case the bud will grow the same season.

Budding is always done on young growths, preferably on those not more than one year old.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 175. Whip-graft.]

Grafting is the insertion of a small branch (or cion), usually bearing more than one bud. If grafting is employed on small stocks, it is customary to employ the whip-graft (Fig. 175). Both stock and cion are cut across diagonally, and a split made in each, so that one fits into the other. The graft is tied securely with a string, and then, if it is above ground, it is also waxed carefully.

In larger limbs or stocks, the common method is to employ the cleft-graft (Fig. 176). This consists in cutting off the stock, splitting it, and inserting a wedge-shaped cion in one or both sides of the split, taking care that the cambium layer of the cion matches that of the stock. The exposed surfaces are then securely covered with wax.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 176. Cleft-graft before waxing.]

Grafting is usually performed early in the spring, just before the buds swell. The cions should have been cut before this time, when they were perfectly dormant. Cions may be stored in sand in the cellar or in the ice-house, or they may be buried in the field. The object is to keep them fresh and dormant until they are wanted.

If it is desired to change the top of an old plum, apple, or pear tree to some other variety, it is usually accomplished by means of the cleft-graft. If the tree is very young, budding or whip-grafting may be employed. On an old top the cions should begin to bear when three to four years old. All the main limbs should be grafted. It is important to keep down the suckers or watersprouts from around the grafts, and part of the remaining top should be cut away each year until the top is entirely changed over (which will result in two to four years).

A good wax for covering the exposed parts is described in the footnote on page 145.

_Keeping records of the plantation._

If one has a large and valuable collection of fruit or ornamental plants, it is desirable that he have some permanent record of them. The most satisfactory method is to label the plants, and then to make a chart or map on which the various plants are indicated in their proper positions. The labels are always liable to be lost and to become illegible, and they are often misplaced by careless workmen or mischievous boys.

For vegetables, annuals, and other temporary plants, the best labels are simple stakes, like that shown in Fig. 177. Garden stakes a foot long, an inch wide, and three-eighths inch thick may be bought of label manufacturers for three to five dollars a thousand. These take a soft pencil very readily, and if the labels are taken up in the fall and stored in a dry place, they will last two or three years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 177. The common stake label.]

For more permanent herbaceous plants, as rhubarb and asparagus, or even for bushes, a stake that is sawed from clear pine or cypress, eighteen inches long, three inches wide, and an inch or more thick, affords a most excellent label. The lower end of the stake is sawed to a point, and is dipped in coal tar or creosote, or other preservative. The top of the stake is painted white, and the legend is written with a large and soft pencil. When the writing becomes illegible or the stake is needed for other plants, a shaving is taken off the face of the label with a plane, a fresh coat of paint added, and the label is as good as ever.

These labels are strong enough to withstand shocks from whiffletrees and tools, and should last ten years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 178. A good stake label, with the legend covered.]

Whenever a legend is written with a lead pencil, it is advisable to use the pencil when the paint (which should be white lead) is still fresh or soft. Figure 178 shows a very good device for preserving the writing on the face of the label. A block of wood is secured to the label by means of a screw, covering the legend completely and protecting it from the weather.

If more ornamental stake labels are desired, various types can be bought in the market, or one can be made after the fas.h.i.+on of Fig. 179. This is a zinc plate that can be painted black, on which the name is written with white paint. Many persons, however, prefer to paint the zinc white, and write or stamp the label with black ink or black type. Two strong wire legs are soldered to the label, and these prevent it from turning around. These labels are, of course, much more expensive than the ordinary stake labels, and are usually not so satisfactory, although more attractive.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 179. Metal stake label.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 180. Zinc tallies.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 181. Common zinc tally.]

For labeling trees, various kinds of zinc tallies are in common use, as shown in Figs. 180 and 181. Fresh zinc takes a lead pencil readily, and the writing often becomes more legible as it becomes older, and it will usually remain three or four years. These labels are attached either by wires, as _a, b,_ Fig. 180, or they are wound about the limb as shown in _c, d,_ and _e,_ in Fig. 180. The type of zinc label most in use is a simple strip of zinc, as shown in Fig. 181, wrapped about the limb. The metal is so flexible that it expands readily with the growth of the branch. While these zinc labels are durable, they are very inconspicuous because of their neutral color, and it is often difficult to find them in dense ma.s.ses of foliage.

The common wooden label of the nurserymen (Fig. 182) is perhaps as useful as any for general purposes. If the label has had a light coat of thin white lead, and the legend has been made with a soft lead pencil, the writing should remain legible four or five years. Fig. 183 shows another type of label that is more durable, since the wire is stiff and large, and is secured around the limb by means of pincers. The large loop allows the limb to expand, and the stiff wire prevents the misplacing of the label by winds and workmen. The tally itself is what is known as the "package label" of the nurserymen, being six inches long, one and one-fourth inches wide, and costing (painted) less than one and one-half dollars a thousand. The legend is made with a lead pencil when the paint is fresh, and sometimes the label is dipped in thin white lead after the writing is made, so that the paint covers the writing with a very thin protecting coat. A similar label is shown in Fig. 184., which has a large wire loop, with a coil, to allow the expansion of the limb. The tallies of this type are often made of gla.s.s, or porcelain with the name indelibly printed in them. Figure 185. shows a zinc tally, which is secured to the tree by means of a sharp and pointed wire driven into the wood. Some prefer to have two arms to this wire, driving one point on either side of the tree. If galvanized wire is used, these labels will last for many years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 182. A common nursery label.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 183. Cornell tree label.]