22 THE AMERICAN APPLE ORCHARD 



times, but the very large majority of nurserymen are 

 honest and reliable. They grow good trees as nearly 

 true to name as careful foresight can insure, and they 

 sell them at reasonable prices. The planter should 

 simply be sure that the nurseryman with whom he 

 deals is a good reliable business man. He should 

 take the same precautions which he would in buying 

 a barrel of sugar, a dairy cow or a carload of fencing 

 wire. The itinerant fruit tree agent should never be 

 patronized, of course, except to get rid of him never 

 with the expectation of getting any useful trees. 



The prices of nursery stock are so low, and the 

 character of the goods furnished generally so high, 

 that the orchard . planter can hardly consider this one 

 of his serious expenses. Above all other things he 

 should not practice a false economy in this part of 

 the project. The best trees should be bought from 

 the most reliable man in the market. A saving of 

 $2 or $3 in the price of nursery stock may be lost a 

 hundred times over before the first crop is gathered. 



METHODS OF PROPAGATION 



A great deal has been said at different times and 

 in different parts of the country about methods of 

 propagation. There has been a long argument over 

 the respective merits of grafting and budding trees ; 

 and the advantages and disadvantages of so-called 

 "whole-root" grafting as compared with the "piece- 

 root" grafting have been hotly debated in many a 

 horticultural gathering. On this point the experience 

 of planters is quite strongly agreed. The net result 

 may be stated as follows: The various methods of 



