Summrr Meeting. 95 



soon speed the day when normal times and seasons shall once more have 

 their swav. 



The obstacles we overcome help to make men of us, and perhaps it 

 mav be that these series of reverses will be the opening- of some 

 new thought and new work and new experiments in regard 

 to hardiness and productiveness among our fruir plantations. It 

 has been a series of surprises to most of us, hov/ it has damaged 

 the apple in many places much more than the peach. How it is that the 

 peach has not been killed in the root, while many apples have been 

 entirely lost. I wonder when I see the results if it be possible, nay, 

 even if it is not probable, that this winter killing comes from the indis- 

 criminate use of apple seed and seedling's. 



In our meeting at Trenton and again at many another meeting, I 

 called particular attention to this matter of the indiscriminate use of all 

 kinds of apple seed for our seedlings. I mention this now because many 

 of our apple trees are dying at the root as a result of the freeze while 

 the top seems to be only slightly injured. 



Can we find the cause of this showing plainly ? I believe we can. 

 To-day we see that many of our trees have only live roots coming from 

 above the graft. The root below the gi-aft has decaved, rotted off raanv 

 times, and the top roots from the tree itself seem still sound. This holds 

 true, it matters not if it be grafted on piece-root, long-root, whole-root 

 or short-root. This length of root used in grafting has nothing to do 

 Avith the life of the tree, but the kind of seed used, the kind of root 

 used, have all to do with the life of the tree. 



The whole trouble comes, in my honest opinion, in the kind of seed 

 used. Our seed has come from all kinds of apples, the very poorest and 

 most immature in our orchards, those used for cider and vinegar, and 

 these seed can not produce good stocks to graft upon. AVhat is more, the 

 French seed is worse for us to use, for they save poorer fruit even than 

 do we Americans, and their trees are not as hardy here in America. 



The caution uttered time and again in my re]iorr to you. I wish to 

 much more emphasize at this tinu^ and now oidy call your attention to 

 the careful selection of the seed. Perfect apples of hardv varieties, 

 from sound trees, carefully selected, will give us the foundation to work 

 upon. We used to save perfect specimens of certain varieties, and then 



