54 ANNUAL REPORT. — 
on this land wintered as well as those on the high land. I like 
top-grafting for the tender varieties best. Some varieties do well 
on the Transcendent and Hyslop. Last summer the blight got at 
my top-worked Transcendents. The limbs of the Transcendent. 
had turned black, but not a sprout of the Wealthy on it had been 
blighted. This goes to show that close proximity has nothing to 
do with the spread of the disease. 
Top Grafting—Soils Again. 
Mr. Kelley. Mr. Jordon’s experience on the Transcendent is: 
just the opposite of mine. This year the Ben Davis, Wealthy, 
Duchess, and a few Saxton’s top-worked on Transcendents are 
’ yery promising. 
Mr. Jordon. Some do good on one kind and not on another. 
The Ben Davis, on a Hyslop, failed with me. The Rollins’ Pip- 
pins is an entire failure on the Transcendent, but does well on 
the Hyslop. The Ben Davis, grafted on a Transcendent close to 
where the limbs come out, do well. Grafting a fast-growing one 
on a slow one is not a success, but a slow on a fast is good. 
My. Harris. Mr. Jordon is wrong about grafting a fast-grow- 
ing one on a slow one. The fact is opposed to his statement. 
We can see it in the case of the tame plum on a wild one. Only 
a few apples grafted on the crab do well. The Saxton and the 
Mother do well. The Jeniton does well in some parts of the State. 
It is strange that some stood the winter of °72 and °73 and others. 
did not. We have a great deal to learn yet. Only little by little 
will we fathom this science of fruit culture. We must learn to 
be mere accurate in our experiments. Mr. Jordon’s low-land was. 
of no good for an orchard, but that flood that dug the ditch pre- 
pared it. Some grounds are too rich. Trees do not prosper on 
too rich ground. When we get the wild nature out of the soil by 
cultivation we succeed. There is a sourness and a taste of alkali 
in new soil that must come out. When clover and blue grass 
come in naturally then fruit-growing will be a success. 
Mr. Dart. Idon’t believe one word in the wild nature of the 
soil. This theory of the wild nature in the soil is inconsistent. 
with the growing of trees. The first failures in Wisconsin were 
due to the fact that the trees were not adapted to the soil and 
climate, and because the persons that planted were yet unskillful. 
Out of over 100 varieties that the nurserymen tried not more than 
ten were good. Many trees brought from a distance are planted. 
in a damaged condition, and this is one great cause of failure. 
