June ii, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



291 



He started his orchard on the high hills, taking pains that the 

 ground should slope away rapidly, because he had observed 

 that the cold air flowed down into the valley as rapidly as 

 water would; never planting his trees on elevated plateaus, 

 but on the steep ridges. He took pains to cultivate the soil 

 thoroughly, and, having seen that in the neighborhood, trees 

 which stood in land which had been enriched heavily with 

 stable manure were short lived, he determined to make a trial 

 of commercial fertilizers. He began to plant on thin land, 

 using different kinds of chemical fertilizers, until he found 

 that wherever he used potash and bone-dust his trees did well. 

 He used no nitrogenous fertilizers except the little which was 

 found in the bone, for he discovered that the trees which were 

 fertilized with nitrogen, although they made a rank growth, died 

 young. Six years ago his orchard had grown to fifty-two acres 

 in a region where the mercury sometimes descends to twenty 

 degrees below zero. 



He prunes closely, and prunes so as to assist in thinning 

 the fruit ; that is, he does not begin to use the knife until after 

 the trees have bloomed and begun to set their fruit, but he 

 also thins very thoroughly afterward. In one orchard last 

 year, after having thinned the fruit to one-half, he set men to 

 work with orders to pick four peaches to every one they left, 

 and as a result he had nothing but fine, large fruit. He took 

 care to see that the fruit was picked carefully, and since his 

 market was near by, every peach was allowed to mature fully. 

 The peaches were very carefully assorted by women of taste 

 and judgment, and among the first quality nothing but the 

 very select and large and perfect fruit was gathered and care- 

 fully packed in new baskets made of white poplar, and pains 

 were taken to have every peach from bottom to top of the 

 same quality, with a label and guarantee to this effect, and 

 then he asked a dollar more a basket than other sellers 

 asked for fruit that looked as well on the top as his. Last 

 year he picked 17,000 baskets. The best sold at wholesale 

 from $2.50 to $3.50 a basket, the second grade at $1.65 to $2.25, 

 and so on down to the lowest quality, and he received for his 

 entire crop $25,000. 



Mr. Hale was asked whether his success had not ruined his 

 neighbors, and he replied that, to the best of his belief, at 

 least 100,000 Peach-trees had been sold in Connecticut this 

 year, and although every one was guaranteed to be of the 

 same sort as those that Hale planted, he suspects that 90,000 

 of them will die and very few of the rest will yield paying crops. 

 He observed that so long as he bought trees from other deal- 

 ers he found some trees of the wrong sort mixed in the row ; 

 and as they came from honest growers, he concluded that the 

 mistake arose from propagating from trees which were stand- 

 ing in the nursery rows. In this way errors were perpetuated. 

 If buds were invariably taken from bearing trees there could 

 be no mistake. 



THE VALUE OF PIECE-ROOT GRAFTING AS COMPARED WITH 

 CROWN GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 



Professor L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, said that 

 in no country but our own is nursery stock largely propa- 

 gated by piece-root grafting. The advantages of this method 

 are, that more trees can be made from a given stock ; that 

 it cheapens the multiplication of trees; that a given num- 

 ber of trees can be produced more quickly; that, with deep 

 planting, cions of hardy stock will throw out roots of their own 

 and preserve a tree even if the original root was tender. Of 

 course, all varieties, when grafted, do not root equally well, 

 but it is possible in this way to get what are practically own- 

 rooted trees, for example, of the Chicasa Plum when grafted 

 on the Peach. In this way piece-roots are good for temporary 

 stock, as when the Quince is grafted on the Apple. Besides 

 this, it enables us to grow rare plants of which we have no 

 seeds or cuttings. What seem to be some disadvantages of 

 this form of grafting are that the roots always grow more 

 pronged and not so deep ; fewer fine roots are thrown out, 

 and most of them start on one side ; trees from such stock (it 

 is said) are more liable to blow over, and Professor Bailey 

 cited as examples two contiguous orchards, one of crown 

 grafted trees and the other of trees from root-grafts, in which 

 it seemed clear that the latter needed staking more firmly in 

 order to keep them upright. As a rule, root-grafted trees 

 make a smaller growth, and Professor Bailey exhibited some 

 photographs which seem to show that two-year-old budded trees 

 were as large as three-year-old root-grafted trees. Professor 

 Bailey explained, however, that these pictures were not con- 

 clusive evidence, since they were not grown by the same per- 

 sons and for several other reasons. Again, root-grafted trees 

 tend to be more crotched and straggly in the top. It is also 

 said that they are not so long lived. 



The advantages of crown grafting on whole roots or budding 

 are that larger trees with deeper and more symmetrical roots 

 are secured; that the young trees have greater force behind 

 them in a more perfect root system so that they are more. vig- 

 orous and growthy. It is argued also that the crown is" the 

 best place to graft because it has a more dense tissue than the 

 root and probably therefore will make a more perfect union. 



Mr. Albaugh, of Ohio, enforced the views of Professor 

 Bailey by saying that in the experience of his company, which 

 is very large, they have lately succeeded in getting more and 

 better trees from crown grafts, so that they think the method 

 is preferable both for the nurseryman and planter. At all 

 events they never have any block of trees failing utterly, as 

 they formerly did when they used root grafts. 



A nurseryman from Nebraska declared that the question was 

 a sectional one; that in the east, where a very strong growth 

 was needed, whole roots were the best, but in the deep, rich 

 soil of the west these long, strong growths failed to ripen up, 

 and in consequence winter killed. Therefore, root grafting was 

 the best in the west because such plants only grew to a mod- 

 erate size and ripened well to the tip. He also never had 

 found any lack of lateral roots and the trees from root grafts 

 stood as stiffly as any others. 



NEW VARIETIES OF FRUITS. 



Mr. H. E. Van Deman, pomologist of the Department of 

 Agriculture, delivered an informal address upon this topic, 

 from which we make some extracts : 



Many good varieties of Plums had come, he said, from Prunus 

 Americana, which extends all through our north and northwest 

 regions. Among the newer varieties, the Hawkeye, from 

 Iowa, is the best. It is the largest and most beautiful, al- 

 though it is late, ripening six weeks after the ordinary Plum 

 season. Cheney, from Minnesota, is another plum of medium 

 size, very early, of a deep crimson color, but not so good as 

 the Hawkeye when it is cooked. Ludlow is flat in shape, 

 large, productive and of very pleasant flavor. Rollingstone 

 is small, of a purplish red color, handsome and well-flavored. 

 Leduc is a very pretty, small, yellow plum, originating in Min- 

 nesota. It is very productive and sweet, and will be valuable 

 for a dessert fruit. Hopp is of medium size, dark, solid and 

 very sweet. Clyman is a variety of Prunus domes tica, and is 

 as early as the Wild Goose, six weeks earlier than the ordi- 

 nary Plums of this class. It sets full of fruit, and will proba- 

 bly be hardy in the middle states. 



Among the Japanese plums, Botan is said to be hardy 

 enough to ripen as far north as Connecticut. In shape it re- 

 sembles the Kelsey. Ogon is yellow, nearly round, and as 

 large as the Wild Goose. Kelsey is very large, three inches in 

 diameter, purplish, heart-shaped ; but it will not fruit north of 

 Tennessee. Burbank is of medium size, crimson-purple in 

 color, exceedingly beautiful, rich in flavor, and it will perhaps 

 prove hardy in the middle states. Satsuma is smaller than 

 Kelsey, but as large as the common plums. It is round, with 

 dark red flesh and asmallstone. One disadvantage of all Japan- 

 ese Plums is that they bloom so early their blossoms are liable 

 be be caught by the frost, as in the case of the Apricot. They 

 all hold their foliage well, and this fits them to the vicissitudes 

 of our very trying climate. 



Of the newer Pears, the Krull, originating in Missouri, seems 

 to be the best of winter Pears. It surpasses the Lawrence in 

 quality and color. The Idaho has not been overrated as to 

 quality, but as yet we have no warrant for believing that it is 

 superior in hardiness to many others. 



Among Apples, the Garfield, originating in northern Illi- 

 nois, seems to be hardy in that trying region. It is not so large 

 as Ben Davis. It has a brilliant crimson stripe on a yellow 

 ground, rich and handsome in appearance and fair in quality. 

 Lacon is of about the same quality, yellowish, and its hardiness 

 would seem to warrant trying it in the northwest. Shirk 

 originated in Indiana. It is very sweet and of a high color. 

 The tree is a fine grower, and it is an excellent fall sweet 

 apple, and hangs well on the tree. Bullman has been widely 

 advertised, but it seems to be a synonym for the Red Canada. 

 The Peffer is a seedling of Pewaukee and is very promis- 

 ing. It is of medium size, red, white fleshed, a natural seed- 

 ling, and ts very hardy. The Foundling is an old variety of 

 New England origin, which has been strangely overlooked 

 until late years. It is quite hardy in the northern part of New 

 England; very pretty, with red stripes on a yellow ground, and 

 keeps late into the winter. 



Of Strawberries the only new variety spoken of was Pearl, 

 which is said to be one of the best, with berries of good size 

 and held well above the ground on strong stems. It seems 

 adapted to different kinds of soils. 



