546 RKPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



year only about two-thirds as j^reat a j^rowtli. Tho crops borne by 

 thoso trees, however, were heavy in proportion to their size. 



Some ex])eriinejits iji pruning trees every two months during the 

 year at the Nebraska Station" seemed to indicate the growing season 

 as most preferabh', since the woujid heah'd l)ettei" than when made 

 in the winter. As to making the wounds smooth or rough. l)ut veiy 

 littK' (liU'erence could be noticed, what difference there was being in 

 favor of leaving them rough. Untreated wounds seemed to heal as 

 well as those covered with wax. })aint, or like material, but checked 

 worst of all. Lead paint was as satisfactory a material for covering 

 the wounds as anvthing tried, followed closelv 1)V grafting wax. C'oal 

 tar seemed to prevent healing. Shellac was a failure; it neither 

 aided in healing nor prevented checking. Pine tar had nothing to 

 reconunend it. 



Prof. E. S. (ioff '^ has pointed out that as apple trees increase in age 

 the size of the fruit tends to become smaller. This is believed to be 

 due to the increased difficulty of sap circulation in the fruit-bearing 

 tree. He cites an instance in Avhich water sprouts on part of an apple 

 tree were allowed to develop in place of a large limb that had l)een 

 broken off. The fruit on this portion of the tree was much larger than 

 on the remaining old portions of the tree. The question is therefore 

 raised whether the size of fruit on old apple or pear trees can not be 

 maintained hy a careful S3'stera of renewal pruning. 



Some data are given by the West Virginia Station'' to show the 

 effect of top grafting and root grafting on the longevit}' of some 

 varieties of apples. Trees of the King apple, twenty years old, top- 

 worked on seedlings were in fairly good condition, Avhile others of the 

 same variety root-grafted and set in the same orchard at the same time 

 had been dead for ten 3'ears. Ten top-grafted and ten root-grafted 

 Walldow apple trees were set in an orchard at the same time. The 

 top- worked trees at the age of twenty years were alive and thrifty, 

 while of the root-grafted trees only one limb of one tree was living, 

 the majority of the trees having died between the ages of five and ten 

 years. In an apple orchard planted with 100 root-grafted and 70 top- 

 grafted trees, dH per cent of the former and only 7.2 per cpnt of the 

 latter had died. 



In propagating varieties of apples that have weak trunks top graft- 

 ing, or even better, double working is recommended. For double 

 working Tolman Sweet is considered a good variety, since it possesses 

 close, smooth bark, a strong yet not rapid growth, and a great length 

 of life. In this connection G. T. Powell reports that he has success- 

 fully grown the King apple in New York by using the Northern Spy 



« Nebraska Sta. Bui. 50. 



&Amer. Gard., 23 (1902), No. 385, p. 302. 



c Wegt Virginia Sta. Bui. 47. 



