186 



ESTABLISHING THE ORCHARD 



Trees are sold as large, medium, and small, or XXX, XX, 

 and X, respectively, with the height and caliper given. Varie- 

 ties differ greatly as to habit of growth and size at a given age. 

 The XXX is in greatest demand. Nothing less than the medium 

 size should be selected, as the small trees are often stunted and 

 lacking in vigor. Abnormally large or overgrown trees have 

 very little to commend them. 



Dwarf trees have little place in the commercial orchard. 

 They have not justified the claims that have been made for 

 them. Although some of them come into bearing noticeably 

 ijarlier than standard trees, they are easily uprooted and 

 must be planted so closely, in order to obtain a satisfactory 

 yield per acre, as to interfere seriously with cultural opera- 

 tions. On small areas and for the amateur they are worth 

 consideration. 



Pedigree trees do not have the virtues implied by the name. 

 The term implies that nursery trees have been propagated from 

 selected strains of the variety that possess higher qualities of 

 color, productivity, etc., than the average of the variety and 

 that these characters will be transmitted. Such differences 

 w^hen traced or tested under controlled experimental conditions 

 seem due to soil or climatic factors, or to variations in man- 

 agement, and not to characters that can be transmitted by 

 budding or grafting, except in case of bud sports. 



It is well to propagate nursery stock by using buds or scions 

 from bearing trees, not to perpetuate special characters of the 

 individual tree but to insure trueness to name. 



There are severe limitations on the extent to which nursery- 

 men can use propagation wood from bearing trees. The an- 

 nual growths are often short, the buds may be w^eak, and the 

 lime and effort expended in securing satisfactory propagation 

 w^ood may greatly increase the cost of propagation. 



Improvement in fruit varieties must come primarily not 

 through change in existing varieties, but through the discovery 

 of variants, or sports, and the scientific breeding by crossing 

 of varieties we already possess. Among the sports or mutations 



