TOP-GRAFTING THE APPLE. 333 



Mr. Kenney ; I put in the Missing Link because I thought I 

 could get apples the year round. I did not get them for commercial 

 purposes. 



Mr. Elliot: I just want to illustrate one point in this paper, and 

 that is, one of the offspring of those Malinda apples was top-worked 

 on the Duchess. The point that interested me was that very thing, 

 the fact that he top-worked that Duchess right in the top, and four 

 or five of the scions are living and producing fruit, while the tree 

 below it is producing Duchess apples. Now in that Duchess tree 

 producing that fruit up to the time of the maturity of the Duchess, 

 they were drawing sustenance equally after that time, and the long 

 maturing apple took the strength of the tree and produced that nice 

 apple. 



Prof. Robertson : I would like to ask Mr. Kenney whether he 

 took the lowest branches around the outside. 



Mr. Kenney : No, I take the upper limbs. I found the rapidity 

 of growth on the upper limbs was five times that of the lower limbs. 

 But I take the outside of the tree, that is the best place to get good 

 results. I will say this, that I did not give the matter very much at- 

 tention. I did not begin top-working until three years ago, I had so 

 many other things to take my attention ; but when I got apples I 

 was sure I could raise only on crab stock it came to me that I was 

 getting to be an old man, almost seventy years old, and I wanted to 

 do work to get the most out of in the quickest possible time, get re- 

 sults just as soon as possible. I thought this practice might be use- 

 ful in showing those of my age how to obtain winter apples in 

 three years' time. This has given me good success. I have a tree 

 twenty-five feet high from which I never got a peck of apples. I 

 cut off a few limbs and put them on top of the Wealthy, and those 

 limbs were as full as they could hang, and a great deal nicer fruit 

 than I ever saw on the other tree. 



Mr. Philips : Didn't the fertilizing have something to do with it ? 



Mr. Kenney : I couldn't say. 



Mr. Philips : The Martha crab will do well if half of it is left. 



Mr. Bailey : Can't we use Transcendent on the top ? It blights 

 rnostly in the top — cannot it be used successfully, say, with the Vir- 

 ginia ? 



Mr. Kenney : Some years ago I used Transcendent to top-work 

 some Ben Davis ; the blight would start in below the graft, and I 

 therefore don't consider it safe to use. 



Mr. Bailey : I mean where we want to get the Transcendent ? 



Mr. Philips : The lower part of a tree over twenty years old was 

 worked on the Whitney and never blighted. 



Mr. Bailey : I want to raise Transcendent. 



Mr. Kenney: I have not tried that except one graft, and that 

 has not come into bearing. 



Mr. Murray : The gentleman said that grafting Martha on to 

 Wealthy would give you Martha. I have a beautiful Martha fifteen 

 feet high. I have tried grafting the Wealthy on to Martha to 

 make the Martha bear, but it had no effect, and I don't believe any- 

 thing will make it bear. 



