548 KKi'oirr <>i< okfitk ok exi'kkimknt stations. 



At the N«'l)i-iislvii Station" Profossor C'iir<l planted 2;") apple trees 

 root pruiuMl accordiny" to the Striii<^fello\v method, 25 with roots cut 

 back one-half, and 2;-) with the roots wholly nnti"iinnied, just as 

 received from the nursery. The; Strin<>fellow pruned trees started 

 into •^'•rowth nuich slower than the others and made a much ])oorer 

 root development. Nine of the trei^s diivl dui'ino- the season and the 

 remainder made a very ])oor j*"rowth, wiiile none of the trees with 

 the roots shorteiM'd half or left without pi"unin<^ died. A few of the 

 ytrinjifeilow pinned trees made a very excellent root j^rowth. but 

 generally proved much inferior to the othei' methods of treatment. 

 These results ar(> believed to show that, under the conditions prevalent 

 in Nebraska, apples may be able to overcome the elfects of pruninj^ to 

 stubs, but at best they will be retard(>d a year or two, while many will 

 succumb altoo'cther. An examination of the I'oot yrowth of the 

 different trees showed that the roots started from the tops or sides of 

 other roots just as readily jis from the root ends, and apparently there 

 was little to indicate that those which started from the truidv ran 

 deeper than the others. More roots started from the trunk with the 

 ordinary methods of pruning as a rule than with the Stringfellow 

 method. For Nebraska conditions the experiment is believed to show 

 that for best results all the roots which arc found on the tree as 

 shipped from the nurser}^ excepting those bruised or otherwise 

 mutilated, should be left there in planting. It was observed in these 

 experiments that callousing did not progress well and new roots did 

 not start readily from the ends of roots crushed or l)ruise(l. 



When Professor Card repeated these experiments at the Rhode 

 Island Station'' on moist soil every one of the stub-pruned trees lived 

 and made a good growth. After three years' observation he states 

 that these trees will make well-formed trees with heads just at the 

 ground. Generally a large number of ])ranches start out from the 

 trunk, which in turn branch at about 2^ fe(>t from the starting point. 



Professor Powell'' made a careful study of the Stringfellow method 

 of stub pruning at the Delaware Station. He used three lots of 18 

 trees each. One lot was pruned to stubs according to the Stringfellow 

 method, another to 8 inches, and the third to 8 inches. Thus prepared 

 the trees were planted on heavy clay land. Duplicat(^ lots were also 

 planted on light, sand}^ loam. At the end of three years all of the 

 trees of each lot planted on the heavy clay land were alive; but while 

 all of the 8-inch and 3-inch root-pruned trees developed into first-class 

 trees, but 12 of the stub-pruned trees, or 6(V^ per cent, were first class. 

 On th<^ light, sandy loam soil 17 of the trees root pruned to 8 inches 

 made lirst-class trees, 16 of those pruned to 3 inches, and 12 of those 



« Nebraska Sta. Bui. 56. * '^Delaware Sta. Bui. 45. 



f> Rhode Island Sta. Rpt. 1901, p. 238. 



