l8 THE NURSERY-BOOK. 



budding, or which must be grown another season before 

 they attain sufficient size for working, are "dressed" (See 

 Chapter V) and heeled-in ; in the spring they are set in 

 nursery rows, from a foot to eighteen inches apart in the 

 row. The nurseryman reckons the age of his tree from the 

 time the seedling is transplanted, rather than from the time 

 the seed was sown. 



Seedling raising is usually conducted by men who make it 

 a business and who supply the general nurserymen of the 

 country. It is largely practiced at the west, where the deep 

 and strong soils produce a rapid growth. The yearling trees 

 are graded by the western growers into about four lots : 

 1 ' Extras, " or those at least one-fourth inch in diameter at the 

 crown and having twelve inches of both top and root ; these 

 are used mostly as budding stocks the next season, " Com- 

 mons," those between three-sixteenths and one-fourth inch 

 at the crown and having eight inches of root ; these are used 

 for immediate root-grafting. "Second-class," those from 

 two to three-sixteenths inch at the crown, and "third-class," 

 or all those under two-sixteenths. The last two classes must 

 be grown in the field for one or two seasons before they can 

 be worked. 



Dwarf stocks are mostly obtained from mound-layering. 

 The common stock for dwarfing is the Paradise apple, a 

 dwarf variety of the common apple species (Pyrtts Mahts}. 

 This variety rarely attains a height of more than four feet. 

 A larger or freer stock is the Doucin, also a variety of Pyrus 

 Mains, which will produce an engrafted tree intermediate in 

 size between that given by the Paradise and free or common 

 stocks. This is little used in this country. To obtain stools 

 for mound-layering, the tree, when well established, is cut 

 off within four or six inches of the ground in spring, and dur- 

 ing the summer several shoots or sprouts will arise. The next 

 year the stool is covered by a mound, and by autumn the lay- 

 ers are ready to take off. Sometimes, when stocks are rare, 

 mound-layering is performed during the first summer, before 

 the young shoots have hardened, but good stocks are not ob- 

 tained by this method. Common green layering is sometimes 

 practiced the first year, but it is not in favor. The dwarf 

 stocks, in common with all apple stocks, may be propagated 

 by root-cuttings and by hard-wood cuttings. 



Apple stocks are either grafted or budded. Root-grafting 

 is the most common, especially at the west where long scions 

 are used in order to secure own-rooted trees. (See Chap- 

 ter V. ) Budding is gaining in favor eastward and southward ; 

 it is performed during August and early September in the 



