This section is from the book "The Garden Week By Week Throughout The Year", by Walter P. Wright. Also available from Amazon: The Garden Week by Week Throughout the Year.
Continue the work previously indicated for the various kinds of indoor fruit.
Peaches and Nectarines in unheated houses will probably be in bloom now, and the wires may be shaken in order to scatter the pollen. In dull weather the fertilising powder does not spread so freely as is desirable, and a camel-hair brush should be drawn across the flowers, in order to insure the distribution of the pollen. It is an excellent plan to vaporise the house with one of the cones referred to in the last paragraph under "Flowers" as soon as the blossoms have fallen, because it keeps down aphides, which are very destructive to Peaches. Guard against the admission of cold draughts, which would predispose the trees to an attack of blister (see previous remarks). Disbud the shoots after the fruit has set in accordance with instructions in previous chapters. Protect outdoor Peaches from frost.
Note the hints in the earlier chapters with respect to managing Grape Vines and forcing Strawberries.
The process of grafting is an interesting and useful one. By means of it we can turn an unsatisfactory variety into a satisfactory one. I do not contend that grafting will remove every difficulty in fruit growing. It will not remedy the ill effects of bad pruning, for example (see full remarks on pruning in a previous chapter). It is not the proper treatment for trees which are barren because they are growing too strongly at the roots; it is root-pruning which is needed here. But it will often turn an unhealthy tree into a healthy one. Ill-health in a fruit tree is frequently due to the fact that the variety is too delicate for the soil. Graft with a more robust variety, and the tree speedily improves. Where fruit trees are cankered, or generally weak, first study the soil. It may need draining or manuring. If neither is the cause, hesitate no longer, but put a new variety on to the tree by grafting.
Apples, Pears, Plums, and Cherries may all be grafted, but it will be found, probably, that the two last kinds do not often need changing. Apples, as the most largely grown of the quartette, and the most likely to suffer from canker, may be chosen as an example of the procedure to be adopted; the process is the same with the other kinds. The time may differ somewhat according as the tree is an early or late grower; Cherries generally move before Pears, and Pears before Apples; and it is when the buds on the lower part of a tree begin to swell that the grafting should be done. This generally occurs in the latter half of March or the first half of April. Let me take the various points.
It is no use choosing a weakly variety for use as a scion. We must select a strong one - a sort that grows freely and healthily. Here are a few such varieties:
Annie Elizabeth Blenheim Orange Bramley's Seedling Ecklinville Seedling Emperor Alexander.
Lord Derby Peasgood's Nonsuch Stone's.
Allington Pippin Baumann's Reinette.
Worcester Pearmain.
The last three are dessert varieties; all the others are cookers.
Carefully examine the tree, and fix on a number of shoots springing from the forks of the main stem at points where they (the shoots) are healthy, free from knots, and about two inches thick. It is not necessary that all be on the same level - in fact, it is an advantage if those towards the centre of the tree are on a somewhat higher level than those outside. Cut back to the points chosen with a saw, clear away the top-hamper, trim the stumps clean with a sharp knife, and make two slits down the bark two inches long, on opposite sides of the stump. Raise the edges of the bark by tapping down a thin, hollow, wood-carving chisel (not a carpenter's or iron chisel, which would split the bark), and then withdraw it to make way for the scion.
Take portions of last year's growth that were removed in pruning, and laid in a shady place (see previous remarks on pruning), and cut them into short lengths, each with four buds on it. Pare down the lower inch and a half with a sharp knife, leaving a right-angled shoulder at the top, and then press each scion down into one of the slits until the shoulder rest on the top of the stump. Tie the grafts securely in with raphia (a tying material procurable from all seedsmen and florists), folding it evenly from top to bottom, and then paint over with wax.
Take between four and eight parts of resin, two of beeswax, and one part of tallow; and melt together over steady heat. The quantity of resin must be regulated to give a paint-like mixture. Paint on with a brush while hot. The wax will set at once.
 
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