CHAPTER I. 







The Nursery. 



AS this book is not intended as an instructor 

 or guide for the advanced nurseryman, little 

 attention will be paid to this, except as the grow- 

 ing of a tree affects it in the hands of the planter. 

 There has been much controversy since my rec- 

 ollection regarding the proper methods of propa- 

 gating the apple. The old fashioned way was to 

 plant out seedlings and graft them "standard 

 height" or let them remain till in bearing and 

 then graft in the smaller limbs such as did not pro- 

 duce desirable fruit. This has been held up by one 

 of the parties to this controversy as proof that this 

 was the proper manner, as trees made in this way 

 in the eastern states grew to immense size and 

 were long lived and productive. This is one of the 

 positions taken by the advocates of grafting upon 

 the whole root at the collar (point just at the ground 

 surface) or at a point higher up. They claim that 

 only one natural tree can be made from one root, 

 and that the attempt to make more than one, by 

 dividing the seedling root into several pieces, is 

 pernicious and produces only an inferior tree. In 

 support of this, they bring photographs of trees 



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