THE FRUIT EXCHANGES. 



219 



New York grower. The tops of the trees in the two 

 lets were essentially the same, although the budded trees 

 were a little larger. These budded trees were dug 

 when the ground was frozen, so that the roots are short, 

 but the general character of the roots can be seen in 

 Fig. 2, which shows the varieties in the order named : 

 Maiden's Blush, Fallawater, Golden Russet, Hubbard- 

 ston and Gravenstein. The difference in the two lots is 

 striking. The piece-rooted trees bear more large, hori- 

 zontal, stiff roots ; while the budded trees have a deeper 

 root system, and show more numerous fine roots. 



From J. L. Brown, Nebraska. — "We use in our nur- 

 sery only about one and one-half to two inches of root, 

 and nine inches of graft. I cannot see any difference, in 

 our soil, in the root-growth from roots of different lengths 

 until we make them less than one and one-half inches 

 long, and then we do not secure so strong a growth the 

 first year. We usually get a growth of from two to four 

 feet the first year. I have not succeeded in getting a bet- 

 ter growth from buds here than from piece-roots." 



FroinT). B. WiER, California. — "I was the unfortunate 

 owner in Illinois of two apple orchards of stock-grafted 

 trees ; one is now 50 years of age, the other 28. I also 

 had three large orchards of root-grafted trees, and my 

 experience with these causes me to say that if I was 

 planting apple orchards for profit anywhere, especially 

 in prairie states, I would rather pay 25 cents each for 

 root-grafted trees than to take stock-grafted (grafted 4 to 

 6 inches above the collar or budded, which amounts to 

 the same thing) as a gift. Oh, the misery that a 1,000 

 stock-grafted orchard gave me in comparison with very 

 nearly the same varieties of root-grafted ! They were 



high headed, such as most people love to plant. They 

 blew over, leaned, suckered at the collar, got sunburnt, 

 out grew the stocks or the stocks out grew them, got 

 full of borers owing to their roughness near the ground, 

 and returned to me about one-fourth the value in fruit 

 that the root-grafted trees did, planted the following 

 year. They were to the end unsymmetrical in growth. 



Your engravings [last August] do not do the systems 

 justice. At four to eight years of age the true root sys- 

 tem is perfected. In orchards of nearly 20,000 apple 

 trees I never had a root-grafted tree blown or leaned 

 over, while in both stock-grafted orchards many were 

 prostrated by a storm and nearly every tree leaned. 

 The poorest looking lot of trees I ever saw planted 

 (I do not think that one man in ten thousand would 

 have taken them as a gift after the ground was pre- 

 pared and trees planted !) made the very best orchard 

 for business I ever saw. They were root-grafts run 

 under when two years old with a tree-digger and again 

 when three years old, and planted when four years old. 

 After every tree had been taken from the nursery rows 

 that anyone would have at any price (trees were very 

 scarce at the time), I took the remainder for this 

 orchard. That same orchard took the first prize against 

 73 others passed upon by an expert committee of the 

 Illinois Horticultural Society eight years after planting, 

 for size of trees, productiveness, size and quality of 

 fruit. But if I were growing trees to sell, I should 

 prefer budded trees. I write thus fully that you may 

 be convinced of the error of your ways." 



Nezu York. L. H. Bailey. 



THE FRUIT EXCHANGES— CONCLUDED. 



A NEW JERSEY CO-OPERATIVE STORE SYSTEM. 



\ KNOW nothing of the operation of 



Fruit Exchanges," writes E. R. Sproul, 

 president of the Fruit Growers' Union 

 and Co-Operative Society, limited, " and doubt the 

 success of any such movement except possibly by 

 the peach-growers south of us, who, we understand, 

 are determined to push such an enterprise. We have 

 talked over every scheme which has been sug- 

 gested as an improvement on our methods of 

 marketing fruit, but thus far have failed to find a 

 safe one with a better promise than our present 

 mode of shipping to commission merchants. But 

 we protest against the custom of these merchants 

 in bunching good and poor fruit together and aver- 

 aging the price. 



" But if we have discovered no way to increase our 

 income from what we have to sell, we have a most suc- 

 cessful plan for diminishing our expenditures in what we 

 have to buy, which is the next best thing. The store 



established for the benefit of our members has been a 

 remarkable success, our sales this year having exceeded 

 $98,000. " 



The following extracts from addresses of the presi- 

 dent and secretary of the Union will give some idea of 

 an organization which is doing a safe business of about 

 $100,000 per year. The Union was organized in 1S67, 

 but little was accomplished for many years. "In the 

 the year 1879, and previously, the money for necessary 

 expenses was raised by an assessment on the members. 

 According to the financial report the receipts for that 

 year were $141.70, borrowed, $60, total, |;20i. 70 ; ex- 

 penses, I201.47, leaving a balance on hand of 23 cents, 

 and a debt of $60 ! At the beginning of the year 

 1S80, your officers were confronted with this problem : 

 ' How shall we pay a debt of $60, with a bank 

 account of 23 cents ?' It was a problem difficult of 

 solution ; expenses were growing constantly, and to 

 meet these expenses assessments on members were 

 increasing from year to year, until, according to the 

 report of the secretary, 'they had become a burden, 



