THE NURSERY-LIST 237 



The stocks are then graded into budding and grafting sizes. The 

 general nurserymen buy these stocks in fall or early winter. Those 

 that are root-grafted are worked in late winter, but those intended 

 for budding, or which must be grown another season before they 

 attain sufficient size for working, are heeled-in, sometimes being 

 " dressed " (see page 123) ; in the spring they are set in nursery 

 rows, about a foot apart in the row. The nurseryman reckons the 

 age of his tree from the top or graft, rather than from the time the 

 seed was sown. 



The yearling seedlings are graded by the western growers into 

 about four lots : " Extras," or those at least J inch in diameter at 

 the crown, and having 12 inches of both top and root ; " Com- 

 mons," those between T %- and inch at the crown, and having 8 

 inches of root ; " Seconds," those from T % to T % inch at the crown ; 

 and " thirds," or all those under T 2 ^. The last class must be grown 

 in the field for one or two seasons before the stocks can be worked 

 to advantage. For nursery -grafting, seedlings of -f-% inch and up 

 are preferred, but the seconds (&&) are often used - For ^ud- 

 ding, branched seedlings J inch and up are most employed. 

 (Directions for budding are to be found on pages 122 to 133.) 



In the coldest of the apple-growing regions, the true crab-apple 

 (Pyrus baccata) is often used for stocks ; and other stocks are 

 under trial. 



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 (Pyrus Mains). This variety rarely 

 attains a height of more than 4 feet. A larger or freer stock is the 

 Doucin, also a variety of Pyrus Mains, that will produce an en- 

 grafted tree intermediate in size between that afforded by the Para- 

 dise and free or common stocks. To obtain stools for mound- 

 layering, the tree, when well established, is cut off within 4 or 6 

 inches of the ground in spring, and in the summer several shoots 

 or sprouts will arise. The next year the stool is covered by 

 a mound, and by autumn the layers are ready to take off. 

 Sometimes, when stocks are rare, mound-layering is performed 

 the first summer, before the young shoots have hardened, but 

 good stocks are not obtained 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 sparingly by root-cuttings and by hardwood cut- 

 tings. The common cultivated varieties are rooted from hard- 



