PROPAGATION 23 



will be more likely to succeed in the orchard. This 

 argument is equally spurious. There is a certain ad- 

 vantage, however, in dealing with a local nursery- 

 man ; but this advantage lies in the shorter shipping 

 distance, the possibility of sometimes visiting the 

 nursery in person to select the stock, and in the 

 slightly greater ease of doing business at short 

 range. 



In speaking of nurserymen here we have refer- 

 ence, of course, to those men who are legitimately 

 in the business, and in the business to stay. The 

 common itinerant fruit tree peddler often represents 

 a doubtful nursery, more commonly no nursery at 

 all, but rather a jobber who disposes of the culls 

 turned over to him by men who have too tender a 

 conscience to sell the stuff themselves. It should 

 be preached everywhere as a part of the gospel of 

 horticulture, that nobody should ever patronize the 

 traveling fruit-tree agent on any account. 



It used to be customary to classify fruit trees in 

 the nursery as first grade, second 'grade, and third 

 grade. While this classification is still used to 

 some extent, it is inexact, difficult to use and gen- 

 erally unsatisfactory. A better way, and one now 

 increasingly common, is to grade the trees accord- 

 ing to their size. Either the height or the diameter 

 at the soil or both these measures will be given. 

 Thus a nurseryman will offer Elberta peach trees 

 in the following grades : 6 feet and up, 5 to 6 feet, 

 4 to 5 feet, 3 to 4 feet, adding perhaps June buds 

 ij^ to 2j^ feet. In buying any of these trees, it is 

 usually best to select the heaviest and largest, or 

 perhaps as often to take the first grade below the 

 extreme largest. The very light grades should be 

 energetically avoided in any event. Where orders 



