392 MINNEAPOLIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



with limbs aa near the ground aa possible; all my Duchess trees 

 have bodies not more than three or four feet long at most. I have 

 them that have borne for thirty years without a single failure, four, 

 six and sometimes eight barrels to the tree. 



Apples to keep well under any circumstances should be handled 

 like eggs. You can bruise with the thumb in picking, if not care- 

 ful, which will be as bad as falling upon the ground. 



Green's Fruit Grower says: " It is not generally known that there 

 is a class of buyers of apples, who habitually pay more for them 

 than is paid for oranges, but such is the case. It pays to cater to 

 this trade at any time, but in a year of scarcity it pays best. One 

 Ohio man, who takes special care of his apples, always sells to this 

 high class trade at prices that make his apple trees as valuable to 

 him as any orange grove in Florida. Buyers know about this and 

 will always pay more for such fruit, unless they can get it at going 

 price. This rule follows with other kinds of fruit as well." 



Speaking of low branching trees, I have three Malindas that the 

 lower branches, wide spreading, touch the ground and mature their 

 fruit in fine shape. Of the Malinda, we have found one important 

 point: they should remain on the trees just as long as possible 

 without freezing. A light freeze which would not effect Ben Davis 

 in the least, will show its results on Malinda along in January, 

 when they turn that beautiful golden yellow that says "we are ready 

 for you." Then the effects of the cold they caught will appear. The 

 skin turns brown in spots and looks like rot, and while not rotting 

 it will be spongy and lack flavor. Watch the weather and the 

 Malinda. 



HARDY ROOTS UNDER HARDY TREES. 



AMASA STEWART, LEMARQUE, TEXAS. 

 (A cotnmuaication.) 



I have just read Prof. Hansen's article on root-killing of the apple 

 (Minnesota Horticulturist, Sept. 1899). That is a very important 

 subject for the fruit grower of the north, and the line runs further 

 south than the apple growers are generally aware of. I have had 

 apples root-killed as far south as LaSalle county. 111. 



As I had over twenty years experience in Minnesota in getting a 

 hardy stock to grow the apple on, I will give my conclusions, or 

 success. I have tried northern seed of the apple and crab without 

 success, but I have found when I got a hardy tree on its own roots, 

 the roots were hardy. That can be done by layering or grafting on 

 pieces of roots. The plan that I adopted was grafting on pieces of 

 young thrifty seedling roots about one inch long. Whip graft and 

 leave a bud at the lower tip end of the graft which will be almost 

 sure to strike root the first year. Take the tree up late the first fall 

 and cut off every particle of the seedling root and leave the roots 

 from the gfraft. If there is a small portion of the tender root left, it 

 will be likely to ruin the tree. 



I would advise using scions from perfectly hardy trees as free 

 from blight as possible. My choice for stock was the Virginia 

 crab. , 



Don't spend time in raising stocks from half hardy trees. 



