8 
HOW NURSERY TREES ARE GROWN 
HOW NURSERY TREES ARE GROWN 
To ONE who is not familiar with the nursery business it may seem a small matter to produce a good 
fruit tree; but it is not like planting a kernel of corn and picking an ear of the same variety of corn 
some months later. If you plant a seed of the Delicious apple, it will not produce a Delicious apple 
tree. In almost every instance a tree grown from the seed is unlike its parent. This is true of most other 
fruits. 
To secure a tree that will produce fruit of a particular variety, it is necessary to take a section or bud 
from a tree of the desired variety and combine it with a seedling tree by some process of grafting or 
budding. There is no secret about it, but the quality of the tree when it is ready to transplant depends 
upon the experience, skill, and care of the individual nurseryman as well as conditions of soil and climate. 
TO PRODUCE A GRAFTED DELICIOUS APPLE TREE we first take a small seedling tree, 
grown from the seed of a wild apple and cut off the top just above the root. Then we take a scion (a five- 
inch piece of branch) from a Delicious tree. This scion and the root of the seedling are joined together 
so smoothly that the point of union can hardly be seen. This graft is then wrapped with twine. , Early 
in the spring the graft is planted in ground that has been properly fertilized and prepared. 
The scion and root grow together as 
firmly as if they were not parts of two 
separate trees; at the same time a bud 
from the top of the scion puts forth a 
shoot and grows up, forming the top of 
the tree. The ground is cultivated 
throughout the season, and every care 
given to the young tree. Here again 
there is no secret, but a great deal de- 
pends upon knowing 
just what to do and 
when. 
In the fall of the second year after 
the "graft" is planted we have a two- 
year Delicious apple tree. The top has 
grown two seasons and has a well-trained 
system of branches that have been 
shaped and pruned to form the open 
vase-shaped head preferred by exper- 
ienced fruit-growers. 
Budding. — The principles are the 
same, and if the trees are equal in all 
other respects, a budded tree is just as 
good as the grafted. In the case of 
budding, the small seedling tree is 
planted in the nursery row in 
the spring. Some time during 
the summer we take a bud 
rom a Delicious tree and insert 
it under the bark of the seedling about 
two inches above the ground. Raffia or 
string is carefully wrapped above and 
below the bud to hold it in place until 
it unites with the seedling. This bud 
does not develop that summer, but the 
following spring the top of the seedling 
is cut off just above this Delicious bud; 
then the bud s arts to grow, and from 
this one bud, which was taken from a 
direct descendant from the original 
Delicious tree, the entire top of the tree 
is developed. In the fall of the second 
year after the seedling is planted we have 
a one-year budded tree with a one-year- 
old top, but the root is three years old. 
These tops are often straight whips, 
but in some cases they carry a number 
of side branches. 
Crabapple, pear, and quince trees 
are propagated either by grafting or 
budding; peach, plum, apricot, dwarf 
pear, and cherry trees are budded. The 
principle is the same for each kind of 
fruit, but they all have peculiarities 
calling for special training and ex- 
perience. 
In all of these operations each kind 
of tree or plant requires treatment and 
care according to its kind and sometimes 
according to the different varieties. 
Some trees and plants re(]uire spraying 
at certain seasons, others require pruning 
at a particular time. Cultivation mus 
Apple Seedling 
Inserting the bud 
Grafts ready for planting 
