STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 305 



SUCKERS. 



Suckers are sprouts springing from the roots of trees and 

 plants. They are oftenest found around trees where the roots 

 have been injured by plowing or spading. The wounds con- 

 duce to the formation of buds, and these buds send up shoots. 

 They are occasionally used for stocks to graft upon, but owing 

 to their tendency to produce suckers should never be used when 

 seedlings can be obtained. Our native plums are a little diffi- 

 cult to propogate by grafting, hence we frequently recommend 

 our farmers to increase the best varieties by this method. If 

 taken off when small and kept a year or two in nursery, they 

 make fine trees with good roots. It is also the usual method of 

 propagating blackberries and red raspberries. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Pearce inquired why it was necessary to use long roots. 



Mr. Harris said the sooner the practice of using longer 

 hardier roots with short cions prevailed, the sooner would we 

 get trees that would stand in all parts of the country. 



Mr. Dartt thought an inch and a half root for grafting not 

 long enough; if longer, it would go deeper and not dry out so 

 easily. The reason trees leaned was because of prevailing winds, 

 and it was often difficult to get well balanced trees where they 

 were exposed to heavy winds. 



Mr. Underwood thought they could be by trimming; he prac- 

 ticed cutting the limbs from the leaning side. He favored using 

 long roots for grafting. He had tried crown grafting, but had 

 not seen results to warrant the practice. 



Mr. C. L. Smith recommended Duchess, Wealthy and Whit- 

 ney for grafting, using roots four inches long and cions five to 

 six inches, and was opposed to crown grafting. 



Mr. Sias said he had experimented on grafting in different 

 ways. Formerly he used long roots and short cions; his rule 

 now, after twenty-five years' experimenting, was to get strong 

 roots and cut them not over two inches in length, using cions 

 about six inches long, and planting deep. He had visited a 

 nursery some twenty-six years ago in Indiana, where they prop- 

 agated entirely by layering; the results were the trees grew at an 

 angle of nearly forty -five degrees, and were no hardier than those 

 grown in the usual manner. By using long cions in grafting, 

 they would take root, and the trees produced would be hardier 

 and more thrifty. 

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