246 BOARD OF AGRICULTUKE. 



I have a tree of my own— the seedling was grafted on the Grimes Golden, 

 and It has outgrown the Grimes and is fully four inches larger than the 

 Grimes. It is an old bearing ti-ee, probably twenty years old. 



W. C. Reed: That is quite often the case. I hardly know what the 

 cause is. The seedling probably furnishes more sap than the graft can 

 use. 



President Stevens: On this matter of selection of stock, what aged 

 apple would you suggest the planter to select? 



W. C. Reed: That depends a great deal on where the tree is grown. 

 Some places you can grow a tree two years old that is plenty large foi 

 planting. Other places three or four years. If you were growing a tree 

 in New York it would be better to take a tree three or four years old 

 for commercial planting. This State, two or three years. Two-year-olds 

 have given the best satisfaction in our part of the State. Some prefer 

 three-year-old. Get a tree a certain size. I don't think it matters about 

 the age of it, so it is healthy. In a dry season like last year a two-year- 

 old tree would have been quite small. A good season, like this, a two- 

 year-old would have been 50 per cent, larger than last year. I don't think 

 the age of the tree makes much difference. 



President Stevens: I noticed a short time since quite an interesting 

 article from some apple grower speaking about selection of stock, and 

 saying that we should select apples carefully, and figure on their long 

 life. He went on to say that the life of an apple tree, after 125 to 150 

 years of working over by the grafting and budding process in use. 

 runs out. He went on to state that he would be particular about select- 

 ing trees that had been grafted from vigorous bearing trees. Where we 

 want an apple orchard to stand twenty-five or thirty years, we must 

 be careful to get ti-ees that their natural life has not been exhausted. 

 This is important for us to consider. We all know that certain varieties 

 are running out every year, and if the apples we are planting today are 

 about exhausted, it is well for us to look into this matter. What can you 

 say about this, Mr. Reed? 



W. C. Reed: I think in regard to that, Mr. Stevens, you would have to 

 ask an older man than I am. I can not attempt to answer that question 

 at all. It is something I never studied. While it looks reasonable, there 

 might be nothing in it. We all know that varieties do run out. Every 

 fifty, sixty or seventj'^-five years they do run out, or apples come up that 

 are better. 



Mr. Kingsbury: I want to ask the question: How can we be certain 

 to get the varieties we order? We have complaints frequently from our 

 readers, saying they ordered trees from such ;ind such a nursery, and 



