130 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



they are not adapted to being used as 

 stock for piece root grafting, but are 

 generally set out and allowed to grow 

 one season and then top worked by one 

 of the methods described. 



Dwarf apple trees come into bearing 

 much earlier than others, but do not live 

 nearly so long. Dwarf apples, particu- 

 larly varieties adapted to dwarfing, attain 

 a height of six or seven feet, and hence 

 a large niimber may be grown on an acre 

 of ground. Dwarfs are sometimes grown 

 in pots. In the orchard they may be 

 planted as close as eight or ten feet apart 

 each way. 



W. L. Howard. 



Columbia. Mo. 



Root Grafting 

 Piece-Root Experiments 



Probably no topic connected with apple 

 growing has received more discussion 

 than the methods of grafting, the most 

 diverse opinions being held by nursery- 

 men and apple growers. The Kansas 

 station has recently reported experiments 

 in which some important points in regard 

 to root grafting apples were brought out. 

 The object of the work was to determine 

 the relative positions of the graft on the 

 stock. The tests were carried through a 

 number of years, and in all several thou- 

 sand grafts were made. The stocks used 

 were all No. 1 seedlings, most of which 

 were regraded to get a uniform lot. The 

 scions were also as uniform as possible. 



In the first experiment six-inch Ben 

 Davis scions were grafted on different 

 parts of roots. The tops of seedlings 

 were cut off below the crown and the roots 

 cut into three pieces. One hundred grafts 

 were made with the upper parts of the 

 roots, 100 with the middle parts, and 

 100 with the lower parts or tips of the 

 roots. About 80 per cent of the grafts 

 made with the upper and middle parts 

 of the roots grew, and at one and two 

 years old there was little difference be- 

 tween the trees grown from them. Of 

 the grafts made with the root tips only 

 60 per cent grew. The first season the 

 trees of this lot avera.ged one-third less 

 in height than the other lots and were 

 more slender and weak. The second vear 



the difference was less marked. The 

 same year that the above experiment was 

 begun 100 Ben Davis scions two feet 

 long were grafted on the upper parts of 

 roots cut below the crown. At two years 

 old these trees were about one-half larger 

 and stronger than the trees from six- 

 inch scions on similar stocks. Many of 

 the tops were so heavy as to necessitate 

 summer pruning. 



In 1893 more extensive experiments 

 were made. Winesap, Missouri Pippin, 

 Ben Davis, and Maiden Blush apples 

 were used in each series of grafts made. 

 Three lengths of scions, 6, 12 and 24 

 inches, were used. With each kind of 

 scion four lengths of stocks were used, 

 namely, piece roots, 1%, 2 'A and 5 

 inches long, and whole roots. For all 

 piece-root grafts the upper parts of roots 

 were used. In all cases except where 

 ]%-inch stocks were used, one-half of 

 the grafts were made one inch above the 

 crown and the other half below the crown. 

 Besides the above a number of grafts 

 were made on 2to-inch piece roots of 

 small size. In all 9,200 grafts were made. 

 The grafts were set in nursery rows, 

 with the place of union of stock and 

 scion in all cases about three inches 

 below the surface of the soil. The per- 

 centage of loss was great, owing to the 

 very unfavorable spring and to the grafts 

 having been stored in a cellar which was 

 too warm. The loss with the whole root 

 grafts was least, and increased as the 

 length of the root diminished. About 

 S2 per cent of the whole-root grafts were 

 living at the end of the first year, as 

 against only about 49 per cent of the 

 5-inch, 17 per cent of the 2H'-inch, 11 

 per cent of the small 214-inch, and 6 

 per cent of the 1%-inch piece-root grafts. 

 From measurements made at the end of 

 the third season it was shown that the 

 greatest growth was made in trees grafted 

 on the longest stocks and that the growth 

 declined gradually, though slightly, with 

 the shorter stocks, being about 11 per cent 

 greater with the whole root than with 

 the 114 -inch piece-root grafts. The trees 

 also showed a tendency to make the best 

 growth from the longest scions, the 

 growth being 11 per cent greater with 



