APPLE GROWING. 337 
Siberian crab, have generally outgrown their stocks. The Virginia 
crab is sufficiently vigorous to keep up in growth with any of our 
apples, and, unlike many crabs, it is almost wholly free from blight. 
It branches at right angles to the trunk, and every branch enlarges 
at its union with the latter, so that it is well braced in all directions. 
The branches of the Virginia crab very rarely split down, however 
much fruit they carry. The wood is white and remarkably firm, 
which gives it great strength. 
Beside his experiments with the Virginia crab, Mr. Philips. is test- 
ing a large number of varieties of the apple. Almost all of the more 
recent introductions in the Northwest are to be found in bearing on 
his grounds, as well asa large number of promising seedlings that 
he has gathered from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Asa place 
to study varieties alone, Mr. Philips’ orchard is well worthy a visit. 
His plantings are more extensive than many suppose them to be. 
The subject of top-working on hardy stocks, deserve more attention 
than it has received. While considerable has been done in this 
direction, it is probable that much is yet tobelearned. Mr. Philips’ 
claim that productiveness is increased by top-working is by no 
means incredible, for there is little doubt that grafting often has 
this effect. It is probable that grafting generally results in short- 
ening the lives of trees, but when the question of trunk hardiness is 
involved, there is no reason to doubt thatit may sometimes have 
the opposite effect. Mr. Philips’ experiments in top-working on the 
- Virginia crab are especially valuable, because they demonstrate 
that we have at least one stock that, while fully satisfactory in other 
respects, forms an excellent union with a wide range of varieties of 
the apple. 
Wuy CoTrronwoops Dir.—A friend in Grant county, Minn., says 
that his cottonwoods (about 12 years old) died last summer, and he 
would like to know the cause. There was a severe drouth in his 
locality, and that killed the trees. It may seem strange that hereto- 
fore vigorous trees, 12 years old, were killed by one season’s drouth, 
but the reason given by Mr. Wm. Somerville, one of the best 
planters of forest trees, seems to account for it. Trees growing 
from seed have a tap-root, that so penetrates the earth that it finds 
moisture to carry the tree through the adversity of a dry summer. 
But if grown from cuttings, and most cottonwoods are, there is no 
taproot; all roots are near the surface, and the ability of the tree to 
stand drouth is reduced to the minimum. The remedy in such 
cases is mulching with old straw, slough hay, or anything that will 
prevent the soil from drying out. The mulching must not be 
placed around the trunk only, but out where the roots are. Bearing 
this in mind may be the means of saving valuable trees hereafter. 
