122 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to within six inches of the collar. During the next season the buds 

 below the cut will produce strong shoots. The following spring the 

 earth is drawn up around the plant, and the shoots covered about 

 three inches. All the shoots will produce roots during that season^ 

 and should be separated from the parent plant in the fall. 



Suckers are shoots sent up from the roots. They are observed 

 most frequently around trees that have had their roots wounded. 



The wounds induce the formation of buds, and these buds send 

 up shoots. Suckers are sometimes used for stocks, but they should 

 never be used where seedlings can be obtained, as they are very apt 

 to produce suckers. 



SEEDLINGS OR FREE-STOCKS. 



The apple is multiplied by grafting onto the young seedlings, or 

 freestock, and by either budding or grafting onto the French Doucin 

 and Paradise. Seedlings or free-stocks are produced from seed taken 

 from the pomace of the cider mill. The seed should be washed out 

 clean and dried, mixed with moist sand and put in boxes and kept in a 

 cool, dry place until wanted for planting. The best time to sow the 

 seed is in the fall, as soon as they are cleaned, if the ground is in good 

 condition. If not, it should be deferred until spring. If sown in the 

 spring it should be done as soon as the ground is ready. They should 

 be sown in drills about three feet apart and covered about two inches 

 deep with fine earth. 



STANDARD APrLE-TREES. 



Standard apple-trees are usually grafted on one-year-old apple 

 seedlings, grown from imported seed, in the manner described above. 

 Whip-and-tongue grafting is the method usually practiced. It is prob- 

 ably cheaper to buy the stocks from men who make a specialty of 

 growing them for sale. Good one-year-old stocks are worth about $6 

 per 1000. You can procure almost any kind of stocks from H. 0. 

 Graves & Son, Lee's Summit, Mo., and Taylor & Son, Topeka, Kas., as 

 they grow and import both. 



THE BEST STOCKS. 



The best stocks to use for dwarfing apple-trees are the French 

 Doucin and Paradise. They are propagated by mound-layering. Dwarf 

 apple-trees are very desirable in the gardens of the rich, where a great 

 many varieties are wanted, and in small gardens where space is limited. 

 The stocks are set in the nursery rows, and there budded or grafted 

 with the varieties wanted. 



