Chas. Downing says that he once witnessed a remarkable change produced on the body of a pear-tree by means of wrapping it in straw. The tree was a Brown Beurre, grafted about seven feet high from the ground, upon a stock which for years had not grown as rapidly as the graft, and presented a very decided bulge or swelling at the junction of the graft. This smaller portion was encased in straw about two inches thick, and at the end of two seasons it was found on removing the straw that the contracted, or heretofore smaller, stem had swollen to the full size of the graft above, presenting but a slight indication of the point of union between graft and stock. This is an item of interest, and many tree-growers who have trees with contracted stems, evidence of some natural want of affinity with the graft, may find in it a hint for practical use. We have ourselves practiced wrapping the stem of Morello cherries, when worked at a height of two or three feet with the free growing or sweet varieties, with moss, and thus kept them swelling regularly with the growth of the graft for years.