VIII 



HOW AN APPLE-TREE IS MADE 



If the seeds of a Baldwin or Winesap apple are 

 planted, we do not expect to get a Baldwin or Winesap ; 

 we shall probably raise a very inferior fruit. The apple 

 has not been bred "true to seed" as has the cabbage and 

 sweet pea. To get the tree "true to name," of the desired 

 variety and with no chance of failure (barring accident), 

 is one of the niceties of horticulture. This is accomplished 

 with great precision and despatch. 



The apple-tree is started from the seed. It cannot be 

 grown freely by means of cuttings, as can the grape and 

 currant. In commercial practice the seeds are collected 

 mostly from cider mills or from pomace.. The seeds may 

 be washed from the pomace, allowed to dry, and then 

 mixed in sand, charcoal, sawdust or other material to 

 prevent dessication and kept until spring, when they are 

 sown. Or, if the' land is not so wet in winter that the 

 seed will drown or be washed out, the seed in the pomace 

 (not separated) may be sown in autumn. The seeds are 

 sown in drills, after the manner of onions or turnips, one 

 to two or even three inches deep. They germinate readily 

 in the cool of spring, and the plants should reach a height 

 of twelve inches and more the first year. 



If these plants were grown directly into bearing trees, 



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