PYRUS BACCATA AS A STOCK TOR THE APPLE. 167 



bearing- trees of Virginia crab. The work was done in August, 

 and the next year, 1902, they bore and again the past season. 

 This indicates that something can be done by top-working to 

 hasten the fruit bearing of Pyrus baccata in quantity by our 

 nurserymen. The surplus trees of any apple or crab can be top- 

 budded or top-grafted with Pyrus baccata. 



22. How shall we raise seedlings? In reply let me give my 

 experience as presented in Bulletin No. 76 of the South Dakota 

 Experiment Station : 



"In the effort to raise thousands of apple seedlings at this 

 station the writer has found that some modification of the 

 nursery methods used farther south is necessary for the best re- 

 sults. The pomace from a cider mill is sometimes planted, seeds 

 and all. This method is not recommended, as the fermenting 

 pulp contains an acid injurious to germination. Out of a row 

 ten rods long only three or four seedlings were the result. The 

 experience of others also shows that the germinating capacity 

 of apple seed is greatly injured if it stays in the pomace more 

 than twenty-four hours or until it begins to ferment. The 

 pomace may be put in a barrel and water added. If the mass is 

 now stirred, the seeds will gradually sink to the bottom, and the 

 pulp may be poured off. Where large quantities are desired a 

 long trough with cross-partitions may be used through which 

 the thin liquid pomace flows ; the seeds are caught in the pockets 

 between the partitions. With large apples it is found most con- 

 venient to cut the fruit in halves crosswise until the core is 

 reached ; the halves are then broken apart and the seeds removed 

 with a knife or pointed stick, 



"As soon as clean the seeds are spread out to dry for a day 

 or two and are then mixed with moist sand and buried in small 

 boxes, with holes in the bottom for drainage, in a well drained 

 spot in the garden. This is done in the fall before the ground 

 freezes. The box is buried two or three inches below the sur- 

 face, and if snow comes too early it is removed so that the seeds 

 will be thoroughly frozen during the winter. If the seeds are 

 buried early in the fall the ground should be mulched with straw 

 to prevent drying out. As early in the spring as possible the 

 seeds should be planted. If for any reason the planting is de- 

 layed the sand should be stirred every day from the bottom to 

 prevent premature and uneven germination. 



"If the seeds are saved during the winter, they may be 

 kept in a dry, cool room until the latter part of February, when 

 they are soaked for twenty-four hours and then spread out on a 

 board to freeze. When thawed out they are put in a box of 

 sand as before. If it is not possible to bury the box it should 

 be put in a frame on the north side of a house and surrounded 

 with sand or coarse manure to prevent drying out by the wind. 



"Planting seeds in drills in the open field is not a successful 

 method here. The young seedlings are apt to 'damp off,' or rot, 

 at. the surface of the ground, soon after germination and before 



