ROOT-KILLING IN THE APPLE ORCHARD. 43 1 



Grow them thus far two years, at which time they can be grafted 

 at the collar or above ground, as the grower may desire, to any va- 

 riety of scion that we wish to put upon them. If grafted at the right 

 distance from the ground for starting the head of the tree, the writer 

 would prefer a scion with five or six buds that the head of the tree 

 may be started at once. Or they may be grafted at the collar to 

 Virginia or Hibernal for a stock, and then grafted again to any 

 variety of scion the fruit of which we wish to grow. 



Here we have, in my opinion, a root system far superior to any 

 root-graft, and it stands in need of no hope that it will ever root 

 from the scion. In following these methods the nurseryman will 

 take up his seedlings in the fall the same as now and store them 

 for winter use, the difference being that he will graft on whole roots 

 and not piece roots, and the roots will be of established hardiness ; 

 while now it is mostly guess work in regard to the hardiness of root. 

 It is my opinion that the time is not very far distant when piece 

 root-grafting will be a thing of the past for our standard apple trees, 

 but grafting or budding will be the rule on whole seedling roots. 



TREE PLANTING AND FRUIT GROWING. 



A. E. BENTZ, CRESCO, IA. 

 (So. Minn. Hort. Society.) 



The questions are often asked me, do you think a farmer can 

 raise his fruit as cheap as he could buy it, or do you not think that 

 we have all we can do without fooling away our time with fruit, or 

 that fruit growing in this locality is a failure ? 



Now as I live across the line in Iowa and seeing my name on the 

 program for a paper, I thought I would take advantage of it and give 

 the farmers of this locality a piece of my mind and then get back 

 across the line again. 



We know the good book says, if a man strikes you on one cheek 

 to turn the other and let him strike that also. With me, if a man 

 strikes me I like to strike back, and then I feel satisfied that he knows 

 about the quality of the goods he is dealing in. 



Not more than twenty or thirty years ago many of the people of 

 northern Iowa and Minnesota thought that my chances were better 

 for the insane asylum than for growing fruit successfully here in 

 this locality, and they did not hesitate in telling me so. Now I 

 don't hesitate to tell you what I think, but I don't want you to tell 

 the farmer that I said it : that the farmer around Cresco or Spring 

 Valley that don't raise fruit to supply his family should be sent to the 

 pen for the offense, and he need not look for me to sign a petition 



