FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 14I 



Spies, that if any one of the other nine had stood in the 

 place of the one he so highly prized, it would have borne 

 equally as good fruit. 



There was something in the soil in which that particular 

 tree grew which differed from the soil where the others 

 grew, and which this tree found, but Mr. Lounsbury did not 

 know of. It does not follow, because some of the trees of 

 the same variety growing in an orchard produce larger, finer 

 and bettered flavored fruit than some other trees in the 

 same orchard, that the trees are different, or that the variety 

 is different. The difference is caused by the conditions under 

 which the fruit is grown, and these conditions may vary ma- 

 terially in an orchard of only one acre or less of ground. 

 If we could turn the X-rays on and look into the ground, we 

 might find the reasons why some trees of the same variety will 

 do better in the same orchard than others. 



I. have often heard the question asked. What effect has 

 the stock upon the scion, and is not the fruit changed some- 

 what by the stock the scion is grafted upon? I would say in 

 nursery grown trees, no. In top grafting large trees some- 

 times with some varieties, there might be a slight variation, 

 while if grafted with some other variety but little, if any 

 difference would be noticed. There can be no material differ- 

 ence in the fruit of nursery grown trees of the same variety 

 grown and fruited under the same conditions. 



In growing trees we start them with one or two-year-old 

 seedlings like these (shows samples), and graft them as I 

 will show you (grafts a tree). The graft as you see is 

 three or four inches in length, and the root about the same 

 length. When this root graft is planted, it is planted so as 

 to leave only the last bud out of the ground. In a week or 

 two the graft begins to bud out and new feed roots put out 

 from the piece of the root. Both scion and roots begin to 

 grow and live upon the stored up sap or plant food in the 

 scion and root, which is liberated by heat and moisture, until 

 able to draw its food from the soil and air. 



As the sprout from the scion grows, so also does the root, 

 each contributing its share to build up* the tree. Now does this 

 small portion of root used have any influence upon the scion 



