280 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MORTON ON GRAFTING. 



THE SAGE OF ARBOR LODGE EXPLAINS HIS POSITION. 



The following correspondence explains itself: 



Tecumseh, Neb., January 18. 

 Hon. J. 8. Morton — Dear Sir: I write you in regard to the talk 

 you made at Lincoln before the State Board of Horticulture about root 

 grafting. As some parties understand you to be opposed to that sys- 

 tem and in favor of whole root or budded trees, and I know that 

 you do not wish to be held in a false light, and it did seem that you 

 did favor that system, from The Bee, as there was no discussion on 

 the subject at that time, please give me your opinion on the matter. 

 I am sure you would not favor any system unless you thought it was 

 the best. Respectfully yours, W. R. Harris. 



Nebraska City, January 24. 

 Dear Mr. Harris : My intention at the meeting of the Nebraska 

 State Board of Horticulture was merely to draw attention to the fact 

 that our apple orchards were too short-lived, and to inquire whether 

 root grafting was the cause of the early decay of our orchards. Mod- 

 ern orchards do not live as long as the orchards of earlier days of the 

 republic lived in the eastern and middle states. But I do not wish 

 to be quoted as saying that root grafting is a known cause of the early 

 decline of our orchards. These orchards have come earlier into pro- 

 lific bearing than did those of New York, New England, and Michi- 

 gan. Possibly they are only another verification of the old proverb 

 " Early ripe, early rotten;" or it may be that in our soil there is an 

 especial element wanting which alone gives long life to certain fruit 

 and forest trees. Among the latter the Lombardy poplar and the 

 rock or sugar maple have, in this neighborhood, been short-lived. 

 But whether root grafted or top, or shoulder grafted, the Nebraska 

 nursery is the place in which, as a rule, to find the best orchard trees 

 for our Nebraska homes. They are acclimated and no doubt are as 



