RAISING FRUIT TREES FROM SEEDS. 27 



periment in this method, which has come under 

 our own observation, was that of Allen W. Dodge, 

 Esq., of Hamilton, for which he received the first 

 premium of the Essex Agricultural Society in 

 1843. The following was the method of cul- 

 ture: 



"In the fall of 1840, I procured a lot of pum- 

 ice of the small choke pears, which I sowed in 

 drills, on a dry, sandy spot of ground. The seed 

 came up well the following spring, and the trees 

 made the first season an average growth of one 

 foot. Being warned by others of the danger to 

 which they would be exposed during winter, I was 

 inclined to use some method to protect them. One 

 advised to take them up, and keep them during 

 the cold weather in the cellar ; another proposed 

 to cover them with sea-weed or tan ; and a third 

 suggested still another course of treatment. As 

 I knew not which method to adopt, I determined 

 to let them take their chance, and winter it out 

 just as they stood. The result was, that no injury 

 whatever befell them ; not one tree was destroyed 

 by the cold or frost, or by any other cause. 



" The following spring I removed the trees into 

 rows in the nursery, first taking off a part of the 

 tap root. This I found to be of great length, 

 nearly one third longer than the tree itself. This 

 length of root may have kept the trees from be- 

 ing thrown out of the ground by the frost, which, 

 as I am informed, is one principal cause of the 

 destruction in winter of young pear trees. As 

 they make but few lateral roots, they are of course 

 more exposed to such an injury than other kinds 

 of young trees. Now if the tap root strikes deep, 

 it has the stronger hold upon the soil ; and if it 



