Page 12 



BETTER FRUIT 



December, 19 19 



Topworking An Inferior Orchard To Better Varieties 



THE search for better fruit. What 

 an interesting story might be writ- 

 ten on this subject 1 And how far- 

 reaching it would be in extent of time 

 and space. Let me furnish a very 

 brief cliapter with special reference 

 to top-working poor varieties to better 

 ones. 



Several years ago I bought a 40-acre 

 tract in Benton County, Ark., just on 

 the borders of Missouri and Oklaho- 

 ma, in the famous Ozark region. Ac- 

 cording to Professor Waugh, Benton 

 County has more apple trees than any 

 other county in the United States. The 

 tract just mentioned had only 13 acres 

 in apples, with five acres in corn, and 

 the balance in hardwood timber or 

 scrubby pasture. The trees are now 

 ten years old, though many of the orig- 

 inal planting doubtless succumbed to 

 neglect or hard usage and were reset 

 at a later date. At the time of pur- 

 chase, some were stunted in growth, 

 but healthy; others sickly and in need 

 of removal; but the majority were in 

 fairly good condition. There were 150 

 Jonathan and 25 Maiden Blush. The 

 remainder were Ben Davis and Gano. 

 The trees were 28 feet apart each way. 

 The first winter the trees were thor- 

 oughly pruned. In some cases nearly 

 half the top was removed to correct 

 a bad head formation. Trees that did 

 not promise well were taken out and 

 Stayman, Winesap, Jonathan and De- 

 licious reset. Then the plow and har- 

 row were put to work and at the 

 proper season cowpeas were drilled 

 in, followed by rye as a cover crop. 

 Meanwhile all the land was cleared 

 and put in corn except eight acres of 

 the best timber located a deep "draw," 

 where there is a good spring. Four 

 acres in a choice location were planted 

 to peaches. 



ByO. T.Wyckoff 



During the next winter we prepared 

 to set an additional five acres, which 

 had been in corn, to apples, and also 

 to top-graft most of the Ben Davis and 

 Gano to Jonathan and Grimes Golden. 

 I made various allcmpts to find an 

 expert grafter, but without success. 

 The nurserymen to whom I appealed 

 and also the experiment stations were 

 of course all busy at that season. At 

 last. Professor Ernest Walker of the 

 Fayetteville (Ark.) Station suggested 

 that I should send Mr. Shird Robert- 

 son, who was caring for my place, in 

 addition to his own adjoining, to Fay- 

 etteville to receive instruction in top- 

 grafting. Mr. Robertson was thorough- 

 ly qualified in orchard work, but had 

 never had experience in grafting. He 

 proved an apt pupil, for after two or 

 three days' instruction and practice, 

 he gained a remarkable success, as 

 shown by the table below: 



branches being left with the grafts till 

 next season. Experiments were made 

 with stunted trees. In some cases the 

 entire top was removed and the grafts 

 were inserted in the stub. In others 

 they were inserted in the branches 

 close to the stub. In both, the work 

 proved highly successful. The stub 

 grafts grew vigorously, throwing out 

 branches and making a fine head. As 

 an instance, the entire top was re- 

 moved from one tree, the scions being 

 inserted in the branches near the stub 

 or trunk. This tree was grafted on 

 Ajiril 3rd to Grimes Golden. When 

 the photograph was taken on July I6II1, 

 the grafts had made a growth of 30 

 inches. Others exceeded this growth, 

 bill none made a better head. 



The trees reset nude 1 fine growth 

 and promise well. In setting this year 

 we used dynamite. The young apple 

 orchard will be in corn for a couple 



The Jonathan scions he cut himself 

 from selected trees in my orchard and 

 that of Mr. E. M. Dunn of the same 

 legion. The Grimes scions were from 

 a local nursery, and the King David 

 and Delicious were kindly furnished 

 by Stark Bros. Mr. Robertson began 

 grafting March 19th and ended his 

 work on April 3rd. He attributes his 

 success in part to the fact that he 

 worked only when weather conditions 

 v;ere favorable. He had an assistant 

 to do the waxing. In some cases only 

 part of the tree was grafted this sea- 

 son, but a majority were completely 

 worked over, a few subordinate 



of years, but in general we practice 

 clean cultivation, followed by cowpeas 

 and a cover crop of rye or a similar 

 treatment. 



We are giving special attention to all 

 wounds or signs of disease, going over 

 the entire orchard at regular intervals 

 with this sole point in mind and with 

 the proper materials for doing good 

 work. We plan to put the cultivated 

 land into grass or alfalfa, or whatever 

 will give the largest return with the 

 least outlay of time and money, so as 

 to be free as far as possible for or- 

 Continued on page 30. 



FIBR 



FRUIT 

 WRAPPER 



Chemically Treated 

 the Point "Caro" Protects 



"Caro" from DessiCARE (to dry up) 



"Caro" 



Prolongs the 



Life of Fruit 



Why? 



Fruit decomposition starts from a bruise which opens tiny holes and permits the juice to escape and BACTERIA to enter. 

 "Caro" clings closely and dries up the escaping juice. "Caro" ingredients harden the spot, kill the BACTERIA, arrests the decom- 

 position—and thus PROLONGS THE LIFE OF FRUIT. If your fruit is worth shipping it is worth keeping in best condition. 



Demand "CARO"— Wrap Your Fruit in "CARO"-The Fruit Buyer Knows "CARO" 



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