006 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



TREE SELECTIOX. 



Professor William Saunders, of Washington, commented in a recent address 

 on the delusion many peach-growers are under that the best young trees to 

 select from the nursery row are the straight, smooth, and thrifty looking ones, 

 ■while experience proves that these are often of too rapid growth and do not 

 turn out so well as those of less promising appearance. In other words: Tall 

 young trees that show great luxuriance have only a few long, %viry roots, 

 whereas stocky, branching growths are associated with a more librous system 

 of roots, consequently the latter transplant better and grow away more 

 freely when set in the orchard. 



KEEPIXG GRAFTS THROUGH VriXTEH. 



Nurserymen who cut large quantities of grafts late in autumn, keep them in 

 cellars packed in damp moss ; but farmers and others who wish to preserve a 

 few for spring grafting may not have these appliances at hand. For such, a 

 simple and perfect mode is to bury them in a dry place out of doors, in an 

 inverted open box. Fill the box partly full with them, nail two or three strips 

 across to keep them in place, and then place the box in a hole dug for the 

 purpose, "with the open side down, and bury them half a foot or so in depth. 

 They do not come in contact with the earth, and remain perfectly clean ; and 

 the moisture of the earth keeps them plump and fresh without any danger of 

 their becoming water-soaked. Grafts which have become shriveled by exposure, 

 are thus restored and will grow. It is often advantageous to cut out grafts 

 in autumn, as there is then no danger of their vitality being lessened by 

 exposure to intense cold, and is often more convenient to cut them or procure 

 them from a distance at this time. In marking the labels with a lead pencil, 

 remember that if the wood is wet before writing, the names will last ten times 

 as long as if written dry. 



METHODS OF SELLING NURSERY STOCK. 



A committee of the American Nurserymen's Association which was given 

 the qustion of how to sell nursery stock, to report upon at the recent meeting 

 in Cleveland, reported as follows : 



We regret that a question of such vital importance, affecting not merely our 

 individual interests, but also widely and materially the public good, must nec- 

 essarily receive such brief consideration at our hands. We can only regard 

 this as an initial step, which we trust will be followed np by more mature de- 

 liberation. AVe recognize that while our trade is one of the most attractive, 

 stimulating, and we believe, beneficial occupations in which a man can en- 

 gage, yet it has peculiar dithculties which can only be fully understood by the 

 lessons of experience. The bulk of our business is crowded into the space of 

 a few weeks in a year, and at a season when our own season of planting is most 

 pressing — a fact which is much more true in this country than in England and 

 the old countries. AVe are also separated, in most cases, by wide distances 

 from our customers, and consequently experience not only the evils of delay in 



