To the EDITORs of the Horticulturist : - As the propagation of the vine by grafting is attracting attention, I have concluded to read you a chapter of my own experience. There seems to be some difficulty in the way of complete success, and we shall be able to attain the desired end only by a friendly interchange of ideas.

I was pleased at El Medico's partial success, as narrated in the December number of the Horticulturist. That, with the tough subjects he had to work upon, he achieved even a partial success, to me, seems almost wonderful.

It seems that success in grafting the grape, above ground, whether before or after the flow of sap, depends upon many conditions and contingencies; for instance, some families of vines are too exuberant in flow of sap, while a few others are too weak for subjects to graft upon. These conditions, I suppose, constitute the objection - want of adaptation in texture of wood may be partly obviated by El Medico's plan of cutting obliquely across the grain of the stock.

But, permit me to give Mr. Miller, El Medico, and the rest of our folks my ex. perience. Last spring, (1861,) in April, I grafted some stocks, Isabellas, above ground, which I had previously, first March, taken up and heeled in to retard the flow of sap, and succeeded in making two out of twenty grow. Then I had some wood of the Delaware, Diana, and Anna varieties, which I grafted into short sections - say 6 to 10 inches long of Isabella roots, which were taken from the ground and grafted about the first of June. El Medico will probably be pleased to learn that these all grew, a large proportion being Annas, a sort he found so stubborn in his own hands.

My theory is this; the scions were well kept. The roots were out of the ground only long enough for grafting, and being pliant, unlike stocks above ground, were readily made to fit a neatly cut wedge-shaped scion : the temporary detachment of the roots from the soil and cutting them into sections prepared them for the mysterious process of union with the graft. In these last and successful cases, no wax was used, the grafts only being gently tied with bass matting. They all made healthy good plants, and would have made strong ones had the roots been 1/2 inch diameter and two feet in length. G.

[The interest felt in grafting the grape seems not to have abated in the least.

El Medico has struck a sympathetic chord, the vibrations of which have been felt throughout vineyarddom. G.'s article will not fail to interest El Medico. The above was intended to have been in our last issue, but the season is such that it will not be too late for use. - Ed].

Mr. Peter B. Mead : - Dear Sir, - In answer to my letter in your August number, you say, "In respect to root-grafted apples, the piece of root upon which they are grafted gradually dies" etc. I have seen this statement two or three times before, but I confess that I was taken aback somewhat at seeing it from the pen of the Editor of the Horticulturist, it is so contrary to my experience. As you would hardly make the assertion without some warrant for it, I am at a loss to account for it, unless the method you have been familiar with has been too deep planting; in that case the plant would of necessity put out roots near the surface, and as these became active and strong by the influence of the atmosphere and the sun's rays, the old root down there in the cold dead earth might, and would prob-ably, die; but as I plant the root only just below the surface, the root I think becomes just as permanent as any part of the tree, not more liable to die than a stock grafted one foot or ten feet from the ground.

And why should it be? the root and graft unite just the same; the layers of new wood are formed over the union; and when the tree is of the proper size for transplanting, it is difficult, and generally impossible, to find the place where they unite, for the roots come out all around and obliterate it. It is the practice of all good nurserymen in planting young stocks, I believe, to cut away a part of the root as well as the top, and no intelligent person will contend that it is indispensable that the whole root shall be planted. The question arises then, how much of the root must be left to secure perfect health to the future tree? I should say eight inches is enough for any thing; and as regards the apple, I believe four inches will produce just as healthy and durable a tree, though at first it will not come forward quite as fast. The inference then is, that a piece of root eight inches long is better than the whole root; and if it is better of itself, it is certainly a better subject for grafting.

But instead of grafting the piece of wood eight inches long, I out it into two (and one I consider as good as the other) and graft both, and it passes my wisdom to tell why a piece of root four inches long is sure to gradually decay while a piece of root eight inches long is better than the whole root to graft upon. There may be reasons in favor of budding or grafting above the surface a few inches, but at present I should have no choice were I to set an orchard, provided they were well rooted. And this brings me again to the question of fibrous roots. You say "for where these (i. e., fibrous roots) are duly present, there is never a lack of the other." Mr. Elliott in his book says, "Grafting on small pieces of roots may answer for growing some varieties in the nursery; but very few, when removed, are found to have made much but small fibrous roots, and when planted in the orchard require staking for years, and rarely ever make good trees." I have seen some such trees as he describes, though, judging from your statement, you have not, and of all trees I think them the poorest.

Yours truly, Geo. W. Draw.

[We owe Mr. Dean an apology for the long delay in the appearance of his letter. Put aside with letters from Mr. Bliss and others, they all got mislaid, and have only just been found. Our means for preserving letters at our city room have hitherto been very imperfect, and a source of almost constant annoyance. In regard to root-grafted trees, we have seen so many in which the root had died, and the tree formed a system of roots of its own, that we are not permitted to doubt the fact. We long ago expressed the conviction that too deep planting had much to do with this. If a root-grafted tree is planted so deep that the stock puts out roots of its own, the moment these assume the office of "working roots," one result will inevitably follow, viz., the gradual decay of the piece of root on which the tree is grafted; for it is not possible for a tree to maintain long two systems of roots at one and the same time; one or the other must gradually give way, or cease to be operative. In this case it will matter little whether the piece of root be four or forty inches long, since it is subject to a dominant physical law.

If you plant just beneath the surface, the piece of root becomes permanent; but very few do so.

The late Mr. Bridgeman, one of the most observant and thoroughly practical minds we have ever had among us, considered deep planting one of the most prevalent and disastrous evils in American horticulture. He was mainly right. As a matter of choice, we should prefer trees worked a few inches high on vigorous young seedlings. We can not perceive what there is in our statement which should lead you to infer that we have not seen just such trees as those described by Mr. Elliott. All understand what he means by his "small fibrous roots;" we have seen only too many of them. There is nothing in our statement that in the least conflicts with the quotation from Mr. Elliott. Where fibrous roots are "duly present," there will necessarily be present also all needed primary roots. Do you not understand that? In healthy plants these roots always bear a due relation to each other, according to their kind. Have we made this matter plain to you? - Ed].

Mr. Mead, - I have about forty grape vines, planted out last fall; they were layers, and had been transplanted one year. I did not cut them much last fall. Now, would you cut them this spring down to three or four eyes, or let them remain as they are? Truly yours, C.

[We would now cut them down to three eyes. If they are strong enough to carry two canes, let them do so; if not, rub off the two weakest shoots when three or four inches long, and grow one cane. - Ed].

Editors of the Horticulturist: - Please let me say a few words to your hedge admiring readers. Do not plant the Osage Orange where the Isabella Grape has ever been winter killed. Last summer I saw at the extensive nurseries of Smith & Hanchett, of Syracuse, N. Y., the remains of a beautiful Osage hedge, killed the winter preceding. It was a model. Its death was a warning. Part of it had been taken up and replanted to Honey Locust. At the same place is a Honey Locust hedge of the same age; it stood the winter very well, not in the least injured. The Honey Locust takes about a year longer to form a hedge of the same size as the Osage, but it lasts. Mr. Beecher, of Erie, Pa., had a long Osage hedge killed the same winter. At the Syracuse Nurseries they have had the Honey Locust under trial for about six years, and are well satisfied with it. They set the plants at eight inches' distance in the row. None of the plants have died out, as predicted in Warder's " Hedges and Evergreens." Horticulturists are beginning to see that our country is very large, and it will not do to recommend a fruit for the United States, but for some particular section; so it is with Hedge plants.

Where the Osage will stand the winters, it is probably, all things considered, the best plant we have.

Yours as ever, Vitis.

[Making a hedge is a somewhat serious undertaking, and it is wise to ascertain the hardiness and fitness of the plant to be used. The caution of Vitis is timely. - ED.

Editor or Horticulturist, - Supposing several Rebecca grape vines trained to the rafters of a shed without a roof some six to ten feet from the ground, would it be good or bad policy to shade the Rebecca by training the Concord or some other vine, say about four feet above the roof, or rather the rafters to which the Rebecca vines are fastened 1

Please answer in your May number, and oblige, truly yours, C.

[We should consider it decidedly bad policy to shade the Rebeccas as you propose. Whatever fruit you might get in that way would in time become quite insipid. A grape vine makes a bad shade even for its own kind. - Ed].