112 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ably infected by the woolly aphis. This little plantl ouse multiplies 

 so fast that millions of them will be found on the roots of a single 

 tree ; their work upon the roots causes small excrescences or knots to 

 appear and eventually the tree dies of rotten-root only another name 

 for tree blood poisoning. I use quick lime and slake it, either air 

 slaked or water slaked, but I prefer water slaked ; about one-half 

 bushel to each tree; place it around the tree not nearer than ten or 

 twelve inches and then dig it in, mixing, it thoroughly with the soil. 

 I do this every two or three years. I use a "nigger hoe" to dig in 

 with and apply it early in the spring. 



Morton — Haven't trees been affected by this rotten-root along the 

 river in places where the soil is of a limestone character? Isn't this 

 disease prevailent? 



Masters — I think not. 



Morton — Well, it is a fact that our apple orchards are short-lived; 

 it may be caused by root-grafting, and it is either that or some defect in 

 the soil. I know the fatality of apple trees is much greater now than 

 it was prior to root-grafting. Nature gives each tree its own roots and 

 never intended it to grow on another tree's roots, or to make part of its 

 wood growth into root growth, as in the case of root-grafts, where the 

 piece root acts as a temporary nurse. I have great respect for nur- 

 serymen but greater for nature. My apple trees came from Illinois, 

 and were grown from root-grafts. They are all gone but the Haas ;. 

 whether it made its tap-root or not I do not know, but I presume it 

 did because it is living. I dug up some of these trees shortly after 

 they died and found they were rotten at the junction between root and 

 cion. I thought it was because they lacked the tap-roots ; I may be 

 wrong, but it has not yet been proven to the contrary and the question 

 remains to be settled. It is not a lack of lime along the Weeping 

 Water, nor a lack of potash, as there is more potash here than else- 

 where. This is a grave question and I hope we will get at the bot- 

 tom of it ; we want to know why our trees are short-lived. 



Carpenter — One reason is that our trees bear too much. In the 

 east there is a crop year and an a off year," alternating, thus allow- 

 ing the tree to rest a year after bearing a heavy crop. Here we have 

 no "off years," our trees bear heavily every summer and the result 

 is short life. T. T. Lyon's theory of short-lived apple trees is that 

 we have selected varieties that are heavy bearers, regardless of their 



