300 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



as those which occur in the axils of the leaves of stems above ground, and the 

 rudimentary leaves beneath may be seen in the form of little scales. Sweet 

 potatoes, j3ahlias, Peonies, etc., are swollen roots, though the sweet potato 

 does produce buds, particularly at the upper end, and it is for this reason that 

 it has been mistaken for a tuber. He who will take the pains to examine the 

 underoTound growth of each will see that the difference is very marked. 

 Often the roots of sweet potatoes swell to the size of one's little finger, and 

 so remain, while, beyond, another swelling upon the same root may so enlarge 

 as to make a potato fit for eating. The Irish potato forms at the end of the 

 stem, and forms no fibrous roots of its own. The eyes may be compared to 

 the nodes or joints of the rootstocks of the well-known couch, or quick-grass 

 {Triticiim repens), so troublesome to farmers all over the country, each one of 

 which will grow more quickly for being detached from the rest of the stem. 

 Beets, turnips, carrots and parsnips are roots. The seed is planted one season 

 and an accumulation of nutrition is stored in the root which, if planted again, 

 produces fiowers, fruit and seeds while it is itself consumed. 



STOCK AND GRAFT. 



Mr. S. B. Peck of Muskegon, believes there must be something wrong in 

 the propagation of nursery stock ; he intimates that the fault may lie in the 

 want of care in the selection of seeds from which to sfrow seedlinsfs to f!:raft 

 upon. He gives a bit of his experience : 



"" I bought and planted five "Wagener's at the same time, and treated them 

 in every way alike, yet one fruited three years before the rest. Of two Tal- 

 man's Sweets, also, planted two rods apart in 1SG2, treated in precisely the 

 same way and looking to-day almost exactly alike, one has borne six to ten 

 times as much fruit as the other. Two other trees, on the same acre, of like 

 age, soil and culture (American Golden Russet and Red Astrachan), always 

 bear full crops biennially, while some others, seventeen years planted, have 

 never shown a blossom. Others — and some of them covering an area of 

 twenty feet in diameter — have not borne enough to identify their variety, not 

 enough to satisfy the cravings of the early crop of codling-moth larvae. All 

 the above, except the Wageners, are on one acre of level, uniform soil, 

 planted at the same time (18G2), and always treated alike. About two-thirds 

 of them succumbed to the hard winter of 1874, the rest now appear healthy. 

 Others planted near by in 18G4 and 1865 from the same nursery (which, I 

 think, is now extinct), have behaved in about the same way, while seedlings 

 from seeds planted about 18G4 and replanted at the proper age, have borne 

 every other year all I could expect. 



I do not claim to be able to say how trees should be raised in the nursery, to 

 insure the best results to the orchardist, but I feel sure that there are faults in 

 their propagation somewhere. If we plant a seedling tree, we have confidence 

 that, with proper culture, it will at a proper age blossom and bear fruit. In 

 my boyhood, say from 1810 to 1820, my principal fall labor was gathering 

 apples and making cider. Our trees were all natural fruit, and seldom any 

 two trees bore fruit alike. There were great differences in the bearing qualities 

 of the trees; many of them bore profusely, but I think we never had a barren 

 tree of proper bearing age. 



