370 TRANSACTIONS OF THE HOETICULTURAL 



tion than the use of such hardy stems as were mentioned above, 

 which have, so far, proved to be nearly exempt from this mischief. 



In support of the statements made, a few facts may not be out 

 of place. Drury Overton, of Knoxville, Iowa, planted about twenty 

 varieties, both root and top-grafted, in his orchard in 1848. The top- 

 worked trees remained still uninjured, and were in prime bearing 

 condition in 1879. They had been very productive, while the root- 

 grafted ones had proved tender and unprofitable. Mr. Overton lost 

 in 1855-'6-'7 every tree of about one hundred root-grafted Rambo, that 

 were planted in 1851, while his neighbor, John Gamble, one-quarter 

 of a mile distant, had in the same season planted two top-worked 

 trees of Rambo that remained uninjured, and were in 1879 perfectly 

 sound, bearing plentifully. Prof. James Matthews, of the same 

 place, reports root and top-worked William's Favorite two years 

 planted, and says that five of the root-grafted trees did not, accord- 

 ing to size and age, produce as much fruit as one of the top-grafted 

 ones. C. C. Wamsley, of Polo, has top-worked Maiden's Blush and 

 Rambo over thirty years old. They have been very productive, and 

 are still vigorous. Root-grafted trees of these kinds are tender, 

 short-lived, and of little value. A. R. Whitney, of Granklin Grove, 

 has several rows of Willow Twig, top-worked; these trees are forty 

 years old, and have been regular and heavy bearers, and bid fair to 

 last a good while yet. Mr. W. says that such trees will produce ten 

 times as much fruit as root-grafted ones of the same variety. Mr. 

 Daniels, of Auroraville, Wis., has bearing trees of Northwestern 

 Greening, top-worked on crab stock, in fine condition, which are 

 yielding fine fruit; while his root-grafted trees of same variety and 

 age have been winter-killed. 



In the spring of 1882 I top-worked, as an experiment, a general 

 assortment of varieties in my nursery, upon three-year-old stems of 

 Whitney, Duchess, Lake Winter, Milton and other Siberians. They 

 stood in the same block with root-grafted trees of the same sorts, 

 and received the same cultivation. In the spring of 1883 the entire 

 lot of root-grafted trees were more or less severely damaged, thous- 

 ands of trees being killed to the ground, while every one of the top- 

 grafted trees came out all right, and all started to grow vigorously 

 from the terminal bud. Again, the winter of 1884-5, with lowest 

 temperature 37° below zero, ruined thousands of root-grafted trees, 

 a single variety outside of the above-named ironclads escaping; yet 

 nearly all the top-grafted ones remained in prime condition, with the 

 exception of Maiden's Blush, Early Colton and Twenty-Ounce; these 

 were somewhat injured. Many more instances might be mentioned 

 to prove the superiority of such trees over ungrafted ones, were it 

 necessary, but I forbear. It must also be admitted that not a few 

 attempts made in top-working have proved failures, and it is well 

 that the reasons for this be fairly understood. As chief causes of 

 such failures we may consider the following; 1. Deficiency in con- 



