45 



Member. Do you box any apples ? 



Mr, Bassett. We are trying the experiment in a small way. 



Member. If you hold that the Michigan Northern Spy has as 

 good a flavor as the apple grown in the Northwest, why should it 

 not pay to buy and box them and market them as boxed apples ? 



Mr. Bassett. We think it would, but we have not demon- 

 strated it. We have not gotten to the point where we can make a 

 report. 



Member. You spoke of pruning and letting the sunlight in; 

 do you prune hard every year? 

 Mr. Bassett. Yes. 



Member. Is that just apple, or peach and apple? 

 Mr. Bassett. All kinds of fruit. 



DISCUSSION OF VARIOUS NURSERY METHODS OF 

 PROPAGATION FOR BEST ORCHARD RESULTS. 



By Pro^. W. J. Wright^ Assistant in Horticulture, Pennsylvania 

 State College, State College, Pa. 



It is unfortunate that there exists among farmers and fruit 

 growers a general feeling of distrust of the nurseryman. It is still 

 more unfortunate that this feeling is not always without foundation. 

 In fact so general has been the dissatisfaction among buyers of nur- 

 sery stock that the ''tree agent" and the nurseryman have often be- 

 come the butt of ridicule at horticultural meetings and in the local 

 press, and are tolerated only as a necessary evil. Every farm paper 

 and Experiment Station in the country has probably been the con- 

 fidant of those who feel themselves aggrieved at the hands of some 

 nursery firm. Sometimes they have a just grievance but more often 

 it is the fault of the buyer or of the "tree agent," for whom the nur- 

 seryman is justly held responsible. 



A careful inquiry into the cause of this feeling of distrust shows 

 that it is most largely due to trees not being true to name and that 

 a large part of this trouble comes from the careless habit of buying 

 from unreliable firms or of unscrupulous or careless agents without 

 first inquiring into the standing of the business firm or the personal 

 responsibility of the agent. Well established firms having a reputa- 

 tion to maintain, seldom distribute misnamed varieties. The business 

 system of a well regulated nursery is such that mistakes are well nigh 

 impossible and it would be poor business policy, to say the least, for 

 a well established firm, with a large investment to willfully send out 

 misnamed trees. On the other hand, there are constantly springing 

 up throughout the country so called nursery firms who are in 

 reality only dealers, and who buy every tree they sell. Such firms 

 have but little invested and do not feel so keenly the need of an un- 

 sullied reputation, nor can they be so well assured of the quality of 

 the stock they sell or its trueness to name as can those who grow 

 their own stock or have it grown on contract. The guarantee that 

 stock is true to name, backed up only by the promise to replace trees 

 not found so, is of little value to the buyer who must wait until they 

 come into bearing to make sure. 



