ROOT-GRAFTED AND BUDDED TREES. 



153 



leader starts from a lateral bud the body will be crooked. 

 A good nurseryman always wants his first season's growth 

 to be high enough to form the entire body of the tree. If 

 this body is obliged to grow on from its terminal bud the 

 second season, the annual ring can be plainly seen on the 

 body — an indisputable mark of age, which the customer 

 will be quick to discern. Fig. 147, from life, shows a com- 

 mon method of dealing with root-grafted trees. The union 

 is at A, and the top of the original cion at D. At the end 

 of the first season (or the following spring), the tree was cut 



X'^'V 



146. Ben Davis trees, budded and root-grafted. 



back to c. Tlie nurseryman will count the age of his tree 

 from the point c. 



At the same actual age, and grown in the same place, the 

 budded tree is nearly always larger than the root-grafted 

 tree, as ordinarily grown. The longer and better the piece 

 of root upon which the graft is made, however, tlie less 

 the difference will be. The illustrations, all from actual and 

 typical trees, show some of these differences. Fig. 14S 

 shows si.x Ben Davis apple trees grown in a New York 

 nursery. The two trees upon the left are budded. The 

 other four are root-grafted. The two middle trees had 

 been transplanted, Init the two upon the right stood where 

 the grafts were planted. It will be seen how completely the 

 transplanting has broken up the tendency to tap-roots and 



