62 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



HOW I AM PLANTING A SEEDLING ORCHARD. 



JOHN BISBEE, MADELIA. 



Having been planting apple seed for about forty years in Min- 

 nesota and meeting with indifferent success, the recital of how I 

 propose to succeed may furnish other amateurs in the society some 

 pointers which will enable them to do more in less time than I have 

 done. 



After many efforts to get good results in planting the seed, last 

 season I hit upon a plan that gave the best results. In selecting the 

 seed I adopted the following method : T have been top-working for 

 several years and have the Hibernal top-worked with the Fameuse, 

 Orange, Baldwin and other good keepers, and I have other combina- 

 tions in which I have hardy stocks for the base and long keepers 

 for the top. In this' way there is a probability of originating some- 

 thing hardy enough to withstand our climate and at the same time 

 secure the long keeper so much desired. I saved the seeds from 

 the apples as I ate them through the fall and winter and put them 

 away until about the middle of March. I then took the seeds and 

 put them in soak for several days. I then took a small box and 

 put in the bottom about one inch of moist dirt, and upon this placed 

 a cloth and upon that the soaked apple seeds, upon this another cloth 

 and upon that another layer of moist dirt. I then set the box out 

 doors and let it freeze and thaw until the ground was in fit con- 

 dition for planting the seeds. I planted the seeds as you would plant 

 'a bed of beets. The result was that about every seed grew, and 

 in the fall I had about 650 nice seedlings from eight to sixteen inches 

 in height. 



I planted those seedlings in an orchard last spring, putting them 

 eight feet each way, expecting that many of them would prove 

 worthless. They all grew, and I find about one-half of them show 

 promise enough to remain for further trial. I shall transplant some 

 of them next spring so that the trees in my orchard will be sixteen 

 feet apart. From fifty to one hundred of these trees are very prom- 

 ising, and I shall cut scions from them next spring and set them in 

 bearing trees. The balance of the 300 I shall reserve until large 

 enough to top-work. I shall then graft into them valuable orchard 

 varieties, like Utters, Malinda, Newell and others, reserving one 

 limb of each tree to show up the value of the seedling. 



In this way I will attain my original object ?n6 at the same time 

 every tree will have a permanent value. 



