M^.KING AND TLANTINc; THE ROOT GRAFT. 353 



graft by placing the steel two inclK^s from graft, sinking it into 

 ground as deep as graft and pressing the steel toward it. Eight to 

 ten inches is a good distance between grafts. When all are planted 

 go over the rows with a wheel hoe or garden rake in order to smooth 

 the ground and loosen the surface. 



]\Ir. Kellogg: I would like to ask him from which cut he gets 

 the best result, from the first, second, third or fourth cut of the 

 root? 



Mr. Taylor : I find the first cut makes the best tree. 



Mr. Kellogg : I find the second cut makes the best. 



Mr. Andrew Wilfert : I find the root not cut at all makes the 

 best. (Laughter.) 



Mr. S. D. Richardson : 1 made some from the top cut and some 

 from the fourth cut and put them right alongside of each other. I 

 moved them at one year old and in the fall I got the biggest tree 

 from the whip end of the root. (Laughter and applause.) 



Mr. Yahnke : I was going to ask whether the scion has not just 

 as much influence on the growth of the tree the first year as the root. 

 I have experimented wdth scions from bearing trees and scions from 

 young trees, and find scions from the bearing trees are of slow^er 

 growth, and scions from the younger trees make the stronger growth 

 the first year. I would like "to know whether that is true in the ex- 

 perience of anybody else. 



Mr. Philips: My experience is just exactly the opposite from 

 yours. (Laughter.) I get the best growth from scions taken from a 

 bearing tree. 



Mr. Barnes : My experience has been almost identical with that 

 of my friend Yahnke. I believe nurserymen will find that they can 

 obtain the best growth the first year from scions taken from a voung 

 tree, better than from a bearing tree. I have kept so still this 

 morning that I want to have the privilege of telling you a little ex- 

 perience I had with mulching. The question was asked here as to 

 whether nursery trees that were mulched in the fall would go 

 through a severe winter or not. It happened that a part of my nurs- 

 ery was mulched with leaves from trees near by, and where that 

 condition obtained they came through without harm, but right by the 

 side of them on the same kind of ground, having otherwise the same 

 treatment, there were 80,000 young trees absolutely killed that 

 winter. One fall I had a little time, and as I had some trees to 

 transplant under contract I moved them to another piece of ground, 

 and after they were planted I mulched them, and these trees came 

 out in first-class shape in the spring, while every other tree was killed 

 within two miles of where they were transplanted. 



Mr. Taylor : I wish to say this in resfard to mulching : Several 

 years ago when we had that bad year for root-killing there were 

 iparts of the grafts mulched with stable manure, and on that part 

 there was no root-killing, but on the part where there was no mulch 

 almost all were killed. 



Mr. C. S. Harrison: I just want to emphasize one thing, and 

 that is, when you are doing root-grafting do the work thoroughly. 



