FRUIT BOOK. 



RAISING FRUIT TREES FROM SEEDS. 



Pear trees for stocks are raised from seeds sown 

 usually in the fall. The most successful experiment 

 in this method, which has come under own observa- 

 tion, 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 

 his method of culture : 



" In the fall of 1840 I procured a lot of pumice 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 duiing 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 being thrown out 



