January. 1891. 
9 
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I am quite satisfied when so treated. I 
want roots to the trees as nearly two feet 
long as possible, and 1 want them dug, not 
pulled up. Pulling on a young tree before 
its roots are well loosened, almost invariably 
tears them off at their junction with the 
stem of the tree, making a most injurious 
wound. — T. H. Hoskins. 
Variability of Fruits. 
At the meeting of the American Associa- 
tion of Agricultural Colleges and Experi- 
ment Stations at Champaign, Illinois, in 
November last, Prof. Green of the Ohio 
Station, in his report from the Horticultur- 
al Section, made the broad assertion that a 
good variety of fruit is good always and 
everewhere, and that the variability of fruits 
in different parts of the country was only 
“a hole for nurserymen to creep cut of.’’ 
The discussion of this, to me, astonishing 
statement was cut short by the chemists 
present, who seemed to consider no subject 
of any importance unless it bristled over 
with all the capital letters of the alphabet 
arranged in chemical symbols. Not wish- 
ing this statement to go out in this shape 
with my approval, I trust that I shall not 
be considered “telling tales out of school” 
if I combat what I consider an error, in 
print, when I was not allowed time to do so 
in the meeting. 
Tf a good fruit is always and everywhere 
a good fruit our Experiment Stations are do- 
ing a good deal of useless work in experi- 
menting with varieties in order to ascertain 
their adaptability to their soils and climates. 
When a fruit is decided to be a good va- 
riety by competent judges anywhere, that 
should be the end of it for all. But we find 
that this is not the case. I cited at the As- 
sociation the ca^e of the Sharpless straw- 
berry, which in some sections is one of the 
best, and in others not worth growing, and 
was told by Prof. Alwood that my illustra- 
tion was very inapt, as the strawberry is 
one of the most uniform of fruits every- 
where. This in itself is gn admission that 
some fruits are not uniform. Even if the 
strawberry is the most uniform, which I do 
not admit, the fact that some are variable 
in different soils and climates seems to me 
to contradict the broad statement made in 
the report. While there is no doubt that 
there are dishonest nurserymen who take 
advantage of the well known variability of 
fruits to get out of a dilemma, there is no 
fact in fruit culture more generally admit- 
ted than that fruits of all kinds do not give 
as good results in one section as in another. 
Take the Yellow New town Pippin, grown 
in Albemarle Co., Va., as Albemarle Pippin. 
It is well known that this apple which at- 
tains to such excellence on the mountain 
sides of Albemarle is utterly worthless when 
planted in the red clay soil of the valley, 
half a mile from the mountain side. Sev- 
eral years ago a gentleman in California 
wrote to me requesting samples of the 
Albemarle Pippin, grown in Virginia. I 
sent h m some and in return he sent me the 
same variety grown in California. The 
California pippins, while large and high 
colored, were dry and tasteless, and utterly 
devoid of the sprightly, winey juice and 
flavor that gives the Virginia product its 
reputation. An Englishman sending here 
for Albemarle pippins and receiving Cali- 
fornian grown pippins of the same variety 
would consider himself badly swindled — 
and justly too. A market grower who dis- 
regarded the experience of his neighbours 
in coming to a new section, and planted a 
variety of strawberries which have been 
found of no value in that section, simply 
because he had known it to do well else- 
where, would have no one to blame but 
himself if he failed to get profit out of it. 
Therefore, when it goes forth that the as- 
sembled wisdom of the Agricultural Exper- 
iment Station has determined that the berry 
should have done just as well in its new 
location as elsewhere, this man would begin 
to lose all confidence in our statements. An 
experience of over thirty years in fruit 
growing has convinced me that no fact is 
more completely settled than the fact that 
varieties of all fruits that have been found 
excellent in every respect in one section, 
may be found entirely without value in 
another. 
The species Vitis Vinifera are valuable in 
California, but the man who expects profit 
from them under similar culture in the 
East will be sadly mistaken. The few ap- 
ples native to eastern North Carolina are 
worthless in the fine apple country of the 
western part of the State, and the apples 
which attain such size and flavor in the 
mountains of North Carolina won’t be any 
where near so good in the eastern part of 
the State. I have written this much in the 
hope that I may have misunderstood the 
meaning of the Report, and, if so, that I 
may be set right, and I trust that Messrs. 
Green and Alwood will “ rise and explain.” 
— W. F. Massey. 
The Shiawassie Beauty. 
On the grounds of the late Charles Gibb, 
(now in the hands of Wm. Craig) at Ab- 
bottsford, this has not shown any signs of 
being a profitable apple, spotting and crack- 
ing as badly as the Fameuse, alongside of 
which it is planted. A few sound speci- 
mens have been obtained each year, but the 
greater proportion has been second and 
third grade. The soil is light and gravelly. 
Under such treatment as it receives at the 
hands of Dr. Hoskins I have no doubt that 
its size and quality would be greatly im- 
proved. The effects of good cultivation 
was strongly impressed upon me by a visit 
to the orchards of Dr. Hoskins during the 
past autumn. His method of clean culture, 
with liberal dressings of wood ashes, gave 
such results in size and excellence as it has 
rarely been my good fortune to see. Trees 
of Yellow Transparent, Scott’s Winter, 
Wealthy, and Bethel, were laden with mag- 
nificent specimens of perfect, even-sized 
fruit, fully one-third larger than that grown 
on trees receiving ordinal y care and culture. 
This is, an important point and one which a 
veteran in the work has most thoroughly 
exemplified. — John Craig, Horticulturist, 
Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Can. 
Root Grafting. 
The w ork of grafting apple stocks begins 
usually this month, and the operation is so 
simple that, after a little practice, any in- 
telligent person may learn to perform it 
successfully. The main essential to success 
is that the two parts, stock and cion, be so 
closely united as to ensure a union of the 
inner bark of both. The mode generally 
practised is that known as “whip-grafting” 
and is shown in Fig. 506, where the two 
parts are shown, both separate and united. 
Select pieces of stout root not less than two 
inches long, taken from vigorous seedlings 
of one year old; cut them 
with a smooth, sloping, up. 
ward cut, and in the centre 
make a downward cut so 
as to produce a tongue, as 
shown in the 
figure. The 
cions are made 
not less than 
five or six inches 
long, and cut on 
their lower ends 
with a down- 
ward, sloping" 
cut, and a ton- 
gue also made 
on it with an 
upward turn of 
the knife, corre- 
sponding to that on the stock, 
parts are then neatly joined together, the 
inner bark of both being in close contact, 
on one side at least. The place of union is 
then firmly wrapped with cotton warp 
which has been drawn through melted 
grafting wax, or narrow strips of waxed, 
thin, cotton muslin, and packed away in 
sand in the cellar. The grafts are planted 
out in spring, setting them so that the point 
of union will be well under ground. The 
cions after a time will throw out roots, and 
the trees will then be on their own roots. 
Fig. 557 shows a root-graft planted out in 
spring. 
Fig. 557. 
Fig. 506. 
The two 
The Downing Mulberry. 
There are few trees of more value for 
general purposes than the Dowming Mul- 
berry, and yet it is not often that we see it. 
As a shade tree for the lawn or around the 
house it is one of the best, and, considering 
its rapid growdh, profusion of fcliage of 
such deep verdure, and dense shade, it is 
remarkable that it is not more generally 
planted. It is a charming tree with a 
shapely and compact habit and form, long- 
lived, and its wood is very durable. The 
fruit is produced in great abundance, and 
of about the diameter of blackberries. It 
is purplish-black in color, sw'eet and deli- 
cious in flavor, and is produced freely from 
July until late in autumn. Poultry are 
particularly fond of mulberries. In mak- 
ing out the list of trees for spring planting, 
by all means include a Downing Mulberry. 
