Fig. 38. Grafting. Fig. 39. Budding. Fig. 40. Inarching.
"But how could any of these methods be used with the buckwheat?"
"An entirely different method is used in cultivating vegetation of that kind. You probably have seen wild oats growing here, as in the States. In its wild or native state the grains are so small as to be utterly useless. It is found that by taking this wild plant and changing the soil in which it grows, the seed will finally develop and become larger, until, in time, we get the full grain. The same thing is true in the development of fruit which is full of seeds. The banana in its wild state is full of seeds. By this process of cultivation it has finally become entirely seedless, and the value of the fruit greatly enhanced."
Beyond the Cataract was a low and level stretch of meadow, which the Professor thought was rich and could be readily worked, and it was the field which they determined to devote to agricultural purposes.
In the meantime, the plans for the boat were developed. A description of the recovered after part of the life-boat will make their plans better understood. When they landed on the rock, and its forward part was crushed and washed away, they saw the stern portion lodged in a saddle in the rocks. It was there for an instant only, as the next wave dislodged it, and when it was eventually found, months afterwards, it had caught in the rocks a hundred feet further inland.
The part which they recovered was still in a good condition, but the ruptured portion of the hull was a broken up and splintered mass, so that it would require considerable work to prepare it to receive the bow part which was now to be grafted on.
It had been originally sixteen feet long, with a five-foot beam. Harry's plan was to increase the new vessel to a length of twenty feet, and its extreme breadth six and a half feet, and in order to give greater security and carrying capacity, it should have a depth of two and a half feet.
"How much are you calculating on for the weight to be carried on the new boat?" was the Professor's question.