Grafting Wax.

How shall I make grafting wax for grafting fruit trees?

There are many “favorite prescriptions” for grafting wax.  One which is now being largely used in fruit tree grafting is as follows:  Resin, 5 lbs.; beeswax, 1 lb.; linseed oil, 1 pint; flour, 1 pint.  The flour is added slowly and stirred in after the other ingredients have been boiled together and the liquid becomes somewhat cooler.  Some substitute lampblack for flour.  This wax is warmed and applied as a liquid.

Plowing in Young Orchard.

How near can I plow to two-year-old orange trees safely?

You can plow young orange orchards as close to the trees as you can approach without injuring the bark, regulating depth so as not to destroy main roots.  Destruction of root fibers which have approached too near the surface is not material.  It is very desirable that the soil around and near the tree be as carefully worked as possible without injury to the bark of the tree.  How far that can be done by horse work and how much must be done by hand must be decided by the individual judgment of the grower.

Crops Between Fruit Trees.

What would be best to grow between fruit trees, while the trees are growing, and what to alternate each season, so as not to use up the soil without putting back into it?

Where one is bringing along a young orchard, without irrigation, it is doubtful whether it is not better policy to give the trees all the advantage of clean cultivation and ample moisture than to undertake intercropping.  If you live on the place and wish to grow vegetables between the rows, the thorough cultivation to bring the vegetables along satisfactorily would help to preserve moisture enough both for the vegetables and for the trees, but this is very different from growing a field crop by ordinary methods of cultivation.  Select a crop which will require summer cultivation, like corn, potatoes, squashes, and beans, and never a hay or grain crop which takes up moisture without working the soil for the greater moisture conversation which hoed crops require.  In choice of hoed crops be governed by what you can use to advantage, either for house or the feeding of animals, or what you can grow that is salable with least loss of moisture in the soil.  The choice is governed entirely by local conditions, except that leguminous plants — peas, beans, vetches, clovers, etc. — do take nitrogen from the atmosphere and can thus be grown with least injury and sometimes with a positive benefit to the fertility of the soil.

Regular Bearing of Fruit Trees.

How can trees be induced to bear regularly instead of bearing excessively on alternate years?