296 ANNUAL REPORT 



PROPAGATING BY GRAFTING, BUDDING AND 

 LAYERING. 



By J. S. Harris, La Crescent. 



Seedling fruit trees are now seldom used for planting orchards, 

 except in countries where the rudest systems are in vogue, and in 

 new countries where the first settlers have not the means for 

 purchasing grafted varieties or are so remote from commercial 

 nurseries that they cannot be transported safely. The principal 

 reason for this is, that varieties rarely reproduce themselves 

 from seeds, therefore seedlings are grown for two purposes only, 

 viz: to secure stocks for grafting established varieties upon, and 

 to obtain new varieties. For growing stocks to graft uijon it is 

 the custom of many of our nurserymen to procure their seeds 

 from the east which is saved from the pomice of the cider mills 

 where the poor and immature fruits of weak and tender varie- 

 ties are promiscuously ground up together. It would be much 

 better if they would select the seed from perfect, well- ripened 

 fruit grown upon healthy vigorous trees with sound constitu- 

 tions. Were this practice followed for a length of time in this 

 state I doubt not we might get back to the long lived, healthy 

 and fruitful trees of the olden time. 



It is obviously impossible for an unhealthy, feeble tree to 

 produce sound and healthy plants from their seeds, and it is evi- 

 dent that from some cause our fruits are getting to be short lived 

 and more subject to blight, mildew and other diseases. In grow- 

 ing seedlings for the originating of new varieties still greater 

 care should be exercised. Experiment is demonstrating that the 

 seed from new or ingrafted is more certain to produce a hardy and 

 vigorous tree than the seed of old, long-propagated varieties. 

 The stock is supposed to exert considerable inliuence upon 

 the tree which will manifest itself in the seed of the fruit 

 and if this be the case it would be well when we wish to 

 grow seedlings from grafted varieties to first get the varie- 

 ties upon their own roots, which may be done by layering a 

 branch and when it has taken root it can be seporated and will 

 become a tree upon its own roots. Another method is to induce 

 the tree to form rootsby deeper planting above the point where 

 grafted and afterward remove all roots of the foreign stock. 

 Only the most perfectly developed fruit should be used from 

 which to save the seed. When by this method we have sue- 



