All posts by Keith Markensen

Gardening

The Cambium Of A Tree

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Grafting is not hard to do. The easiest to make and best known and most practical form of it, for general use, is the cleft graft. No matter how many forms grafting may take – the Romans are said to have had 50 – the fundamental principle underlying all is that of uniting the cambium of the cion with that of the stock so that food supplies can be conducted from the one to the other.

For it is through the cambium layer that a tree is fed, and if the cambium of the cion can he united with that of the stock, food will flow up into the Lion and it will grow just as if it had never been cut away from its original source of supply.

The cambium is the green layer between bark and wood. As viewed in the top of a stock about to be grafted early in the season, it is not sharply defined but is rather indefinite; at that time the grafter has to do a good deal of estimating as to just where the cambium is.

Nevertheless, that is the best time for the cleft graft because under those conditions the bark sticks tight to the wood – an essential for the cleft graft. Later in the season – generally about midspring – the cambium presents a definite line, and that indicates that the bark is likely to slip and, if it does, the cleft grafting season is over.

Now for the tools to do the job. Common carpentry tools can be used but for the man who wants the pleasure and convenience of the right thing there are four items lie will enjoy: a good grafting mallet, a grafting chisel with a high quality white handle (so it is easy to find), a horticultural knife, and a wedge for stocks that are too small for the wedge on the grafting chisel.

The mallet can be made from a hard wood like dogwood. It should be shaped liked a short thick policeman’s club and should have a knob like that on a bowling pin with a rawhide lace through the knob to permit hanging from the wrist. The grafting chisel designed by the New Jersey Experiment Station; it is rather expensive because it was to be made to order. The wedge for small stocks can be made by a blacksmith out of an old flat file; it is a splendid tool. A substitute for it can be a screwdriver, and for using on the big stocks, a cold chisel.

 

Gardening

A Colorful Garden From A Creative Gardener

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Pelleted seeds with the coating tinted the same color as the blooms they produce is the latest addition to the expanding garden field. Now the guesswork can be eliminated from color grouping at planting time.

Ordinarily, seeds are coated or pelleted with chemical substances to encourage faster growth, larger blooms and to serve as guards against diseases and insects. Also, they are extra large, which makes them easier to plant and space, doing away with the laborious job of thinning later in the season. This new colored coating provides everything plain coating does, plus the fun of choosing the color of the blooms you wish before putting the seeds in the ground. Now the gardener can truly become the master of color in his garden.

At the present time home gardeners can get sweet pea, zinnia and petunia seeds in Kolorcoat, which is a good start for painting with flowers in the garden.

Not long ago the manufacturer invited home gardeners to test and comment on these seeds. One woman drew a parallel between colored seeds and flower arrangement. “One is done in the soil and the other in the living room.” She felt that planting seeds according to color called for the same amount of artistic skill as arranging the blooms.

The home gardener, like the amateur painter, goes through stages of experimenting with color combinations, harmonies, design and pattern. So, an imaginative business man, who is also a home gardener, took the idea of coloring seeds, experimented with it and has now presented it to all home gardeners to use and enjoy.

So what are you waiting for, read some articles regarding the idea of coloring seeds and enjoy you garden. With our help we can surely help you about plants and garden.