150 STATE POMOLOOIOAI. SOCIKTY. 



PLANT VAKIOUS KINDS. 



Though we h.ave a good collection of hardies, and in succession 

 from the first of August till March, yet, I would not discourage the 

 |)laiitiiig of Duchess, Wealthy, and some of the best of the Russians. 

 Their value is too great to be rejected on account of one partial fail- 

 ure, after over twenty years of uninterrupted success, for such a 

 winter as that of two years ago may not occur again in a lifetime, 

 if ever. If those varieties should stand only ten years, the}' would be 

 the most profitable crop a land owner could plant. Therefore, I advise 

 to mix them in with our extra hardies, especially if you have a clay 

 soil, for in such the}' do best. A north, northwest or northeast ex- 

 posure is the best for the apple, and, indeed, for any fruit except the 

 grape — give that all the sunshine you can. 



While on the subject of apple culture, let me state a few facts in 

 regard to root-grafts The so-called crab roots are not all hardv — 

 none are pure crab, all are mongrels — and where the crab predomi- 

 nates the graft that is not a crab mongrel does not take well, neither 

 on root or stock. The mongrel root and mongrel stock are only 

 preferable when a mongrel graft is to be inserted, but as all such are 

 not hardv. a good mulch is needed, of some coarse litter, to make 

 sure against root-killing under certain conditions, as not all winters 

 will kill even the most tender roots. 



The common apple will not make a smooth junction on a stock 

 where the crab predominates, and, consequently, will not make a 

 lasting tree, and a hardy variety grafted or budded on the common 

 apple stock is worthless, as the stock below the junction of graft or 

 bud is sure to winter-kill the first hard winter. You can protect a 

 tender root, but you cannot save a tender stock, so avoid the tree 

 agent with his budded trees. 



NURSERY FRAUDS. 



Arid, lastly, it matters not where a tree is grown — whether east, 

 •south or north — that tree is best that comes to the planter in the 

 best condition, if true to name ; but, with the great mass of tree 

 planters, the smooth-tongued agent with his rubbish and frauds is 

 the one thing needful. Though fleeced a score of times, they patron- 

 ize him the twenty- first time as freely as ever, and the bigger the 

 price of the fraud the more greedily they swallow the bait. The fact 

 is notorious that tree agents have sold one hundred trees of the Gid- 

 eon apple, at one dollar per tree, where I, the originator, have been 



