THE NURSERY- 19 



influences the root growth. As I said before I am 

 in favor of that system which gets a tree on its own 

 roots in the least possible time. ' ' 



If a whole seedling root is used it is evident that 

 to get the point of union deep enough in the ground 

 to make it reasonably safe to go through the winter 

 without becoming diseased, the root graft must be 

 planted from i y 2 feet to 2 feet deep. No nurseryman 

 will ever do this and if he did the tree digger when 

 run under the trees before lifting would cut it off, 

 say 15 inches below the surface, and this is deeper 

 than these implements are usually run. 



Those who claim to propagate trees exclusively 

 upon what they call "whole roots," in their argu- 

 ments seek to leave the impression that in the north 

 the short root and long cion is used solely 'for the 

 purpose of economy. Nothing could be further 

 from the truth, and the attempt to leave such an 

 impression is not creditable. Seedling apples suita- 

 able for grafting are usually worth about $3.00 per 

 1,000 and the cions such as will make about two to 

 three cuts are worth $1.00 to $2.00 per 1,000. The 

 little difference in the value of the top and bottom 

 of the graft will make it a small matter whether 

 the splice is made a short distance further upward 

 or downward. Even if a great part of the root is 

 thrown away (which it is not) in the "whole root" 

 system, the difference in the cost of the trees by 

 the two systems, after two years could not be more 

 than one-fifth of a cent. 



It will be noticed that without a single excep- 



