28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



sorry that the custom is so prevalent of propagating trees 

 by root-grafting. Some one was asked when was the best 

 time to begin training a child, and he said a hundred years 

 before it was born. I think he was right about that. I 

 think we should get seed from good native seedling stocks, 

 that are healthy, vigorous, and that have well-developed 

 seeds. Seedlings are almost always graded into about three 

 grades, — extra. No. 1 and No. 2. Now, if I could have 

 my choice, I should want my trees from the extra stock, no 

 matter what they cost. 



Question. Are not those grades fixed according to size 

 rather than quality? That is the way they do it in the 

 catalogues. 



Mr. Augur. I think there is a great deal in the character 

 of the seeds. You take any number of apple seeds, and 

 you will find two, three, four or more grades. There will 

 be those that are very plump and those that are very 

 diminutive. If we select fully developed seeds, they will 

 produce the finest seedlings, of course. We should take 

 advantage of the best heredity we can get, and that is the 

 starting point. An orchard so selected and so planted could 

 hardly fail to do well. It does not matter how much you 

 pay for the trees. If you pay fifty cents for one tree,- and 

 could get the other at a dime, I should take the higher cost 

 one in preference to the other, for I should then have some- 

 thing reliable to start with. I will venture to say that you 

 may go around Fitchburg or any other place, and look over 

 the orchards, and you will find two-thirds of the trees not 

 what they ought to l)e. A great many trees that are set 

 out from nurseries have roots only on one side, and conse- 

 quently you will find a great many leaning trees in the 

 orchards. 



Question. Has not the wind something to do with that 

 in some localities ? 



Mr. Augur. When the wind blows, it is the one-sided 

 trees that get over. I like to have the wind blow, and if a 

 tree does not stand it, let it go. But when you have an 

 orchard that has come to maturity, do very little pruning. 

 I know an orchard in our town that was bought by a clergy- 

 man, and he thought he was doing the best thing possible 



