62. The seeds for stocks are commonly sown in March, in four-feet beds. The germination of some kinds is pro moted by placing them in moist sand, in a greenhouse or cellar, for some time previously. Next season, the seed lings are transplanted into nursery rows. Here they remain till they reach the size wished for, in order to the forming of wall or espalier dwarfs, or dwarf standards, half stand ards, or full standards,—the characters of which will be immediately explained. For the first three kinds, they are generally ready after two seasons : for the last, not sooner than after three or four. The finer kinds of plums are budded or grafted on plum stocks, raised from the stones. The common kinds of plums, and the almond, are propa gated chiefly by suckers ; figs, mulberries, and quinces, principally by layers ; gooseberries and currants, by cut tings. Several varieties of apple, as the original or bur knot, the brown apple of Burntisland, and some others, grow by cuttings ; and many kinds, indeed all those sorts of fruit trees that have small buds, may be propagated by laying down branches, having a ligature of leather or wire passed firmly around them, either above or below a bud, in the part buried in the earth. At the place of binding, the circulation of the sap being interrupted, a swelling en sues, and roots break forth. The layer is separated the following year, and planted where it is intended to remain. This mode of propagating fruit trees is well known and often practised on the continent, though little attended to in this country ; by it, in the course of three years, bearing trees are produced, without the trouble of grafting. Stocks for cherry trees, raised either from the native black cherry or guigne, or the wild red cherry, are considered as less apt to prove gummy or diseased than those raised from the stones of garden cherries, and they are at the same time ac counted more durable.
Nursery Training.
6S. Fruit trees are trained as standards, of different kinds ; as wall trees, or as espalier trees. For these, stocks of different ages or sizes are requisite. Standards are sub divided into three kinds, full standards, half standards, and dwat f standards.
Full standards are less used in Scotland than in Eng land, where stems six or seven feet in height, before the branches are set out, are inc:ispensable in orchards to which cattle are frequently admitted. Apples and pears are very commonly trained as full standards, and also cherries and plums.
Half standards have shorter stems, perhaps from three to five feet. These are particularly well calculated fir standards in small gardens.
Dwarf standards have low stems, from one foot to two feet high ; they are grafted on the most dwarfing stocks of their respective kinds, (apples on paradise stocks, and pears on quinces,) to make them produce low heads, suited to small compartments or borders ; they come soon into bearing, produce large fruit, and in considerable abun dance ; while so humble is the tree, that the fruit may of ten be reached by the hand. Apples, pears, plums, cher ries, and filberds, are very often trained as dwarf standards; and sometimes apricots, peaches, and figs. The French frequently train them to a cylindrical or somewhat pyrami dal shape (en quenouille): in this way their appearance is improved, and the ground is less shaded ; but, in general, the giving this shape must prove detrimental to the fruit fulness of the tree. In this country, they are usually train ed like bushes (en buisson); from which, it is presumed, Mr Nicol denominates them buzelars.
For dwarf wall trees, stems five or six inches in length are sufficient ; these, it will he observed, are the trees which are ultimately destined to cover the garden wall, be ing named dwarfs only from the humble stocks on which they grow.
Riders are wall trees grafted or budded on tall stocks, and are generally meant for the temporary purpose of fill ing the wall till the dwarfs get forward. The term riders
is of Scottish origin, English gardeners having no appro priate name for wall trees trained in this manner, but mere ly calling them standards.
Espalier trees are intended for being trained against low treillages or latticed work, or rails which consist of simple upright posts ; stems or stocks, six or eight inches in height, are therefore sufficient. To those who may look into French horticultural books, it may be useful to ob serve, that en espalier is their term for what we call wall training, and that our espalier training is by them denomi nated en eontre-espalier.
The management of these different kinds of trees, front the time of their being grafted till they be fit for trans planting, belongs, equally as the raising of stocks, to the nursery department. The operations of grafting and bud ding, however, being of general importance, and among the nicest operations in horticulture, must here be de scribed.
Grafting.
64. Grafting may be performed in several different ways. The most important points are, to apply the inner bark of the stock and of the graft precisely to each other, and to bind them firmly in that situation. M. Thouin of Paris, in his laboured but excellent papers in the du Mu seum d' Histoire Jvbturelle, has made many minute distinc tions, enumerating and describing no fewer than forty modes of grafting, independent altogether of several modes of grafting by approach, and of budding. con tent ourselves, however, with explaining only the principal kinds practised by our own gardeners. These, as well as several other sorts of grafting, are very distinctly described, and illustrated by figures, by the late Mr Curtis, in his " Lectures," vol. iii.
65. The mode of grafting most commonly adopted in forming young fruit trees is called tongue grafting. Here it is desirable that the top of the stock, and the extremity of the graft, should be nearly of equal diameter. Both are cut off obliquely, at corresponding angles, as nearly as the eye can guess ; and the tip of the stock is cut off ho rizontally. A slip (or very narrow angular opening made by cutting out a thin piece) is then made in the centre of the stock downwards, and a similar slip in the graft up wards. (Plate CCCIX. Fig. 1.) A very sharp and nar row-bladed knife is necessary. The thin point of the upper half of the sloping end of the graft is then inserted into the slip in the stock ; this is sometimes called lipping. The barks of stock and graft are brought closely to unite, at least on the right hand side, so as not to be displaced in ty ing, which is always done from left to right, or in the course of the sun. Strands of fresh bass•matting, steep ed for a little time in water to render them more pliant, and to prevent the knot from slipping, are generally used for ties. A quantity of clay is worked fine, and mixed with some hay chopped small, or horse droppings, and sometimes with a little salt. It is found better to have it prepared a day or two beforehand, and to beat it up with a little water as needed. The tying is then covered with this clay, in the form of a collar, or ball tapering at both ends, the upper end being applied closely to the graft, and the under to the stock. These balls are not removed till after midsummer. A neat substitute for clay is mentioned by Abercrombie : a composition of turpentine, bees wax, and rosin, at first melted together, and afterwards heated as wanted ; care being taken not to apply it too hot. A coat ling, laid on with a brush, to the depth of a quarter of an inch, is said to be less liable to crack than clay ; and, it is added, that when the full heat of summer arrives, the com position melts away of its own accord. It may be remarked, that the whip. grafting mentioned in old horticultural books, is merely the kind now described, wanting the important improvement of the tongues or lips.