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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

Describe The Characteristics And Types Of The Honey Locust?

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Substitutes for the American elm and native oaks as shade trees are being sought by many plantsmen because of the ravages of diseases such as oak wilt and the Dutch elm disease occurring in some sections of the country. These diseases are destroying many valuable and prized shade trees on both public and private properties in several midwestern states. Observations in many parts of the United States and Canada indicate that the honey locust has most of the characteristics needed for shade and lawn purposes.

The common northern honey locust has a native range extending from the Appalachians to the Great Plains and from Ontario to Texas. It thrives on a wide range of soils. Under conditions of high fertility and adequate moisture, it grows rapidly and in the same period of time may attain a height equal to that of the less desirable Chinese elm and silver maple. It is long lived. One honey locust recently cut in Dayton, Ohio, showed 327 annual rings.

Seedlings of the honey locust at certain stages produce many multiple-pointed thorns but as the tree matures, the new growth gradually becomes thornless. Completely thornless, male varieties can be produced by using budwood from the thornless male branches of the tree. Such thornless propagated trees are available from many nurseries.

One-year-old budded whips are straight stemmed, suitable for transplanting to a permanent location, and their use is recommended. Trees produced from seed are variable in characteristics and frequently produce thorny growth. Budded trees from a reputable nursery will prove more satisfactory. The young trees of the honey locust have a shallow, fibrous root system which permits easy transplanting.

Lawn grasses grow well beneath the light shade of the honey locust. The trees present almost no Fall leaf-clean-up problem since the thin, soft leaflets decompose almost overnight leaving only the slender mid-ribs. Even these mid-ribs decompose quickly and the debris left under the trees is almost negligible. Female flower producing specimens do drop a heavy crop of pods. However, male varieties, completely free of pod production, can be produced by using budwood from branches producing only male or staminate flowers.