PROPAGATION. 
15 
Propagation. 
There are but two general methods of propagating the apple—by seeds 
for new varieties and for stocks, and by grafting for the multiplication 
of the numbers of any and every established sort. Budding and 
inarching are but varieties of grafting, the latter being but little resorted 
to in the case of the apple, and the former seldom practised unless 
for the rapid increase of novel or scarce varieties. A few sorts of 
apples are also propagated by cuttings, layers, and suckers; but these 
methods are seldom resorted to unless for the manufacture of stocks. 
The fact is, the ease and facility with which apples can be grafted has 
tended to set aside all other modes of propagation. There is also a 
waste of time, as well as material, incident to most of the other modes 
of increase. Take, for instance, that of propagation by layers; the 
branch long enough to form a layer would make, probably, three scions 
at the least. Again, very few apples produce suckers in any quantity ; 
and those that do, such as the Burknott and some of the Codlins, 
maintain the troublesome tendency of producing suckers rather than 
growing into nice fruitful trees all through their lives. Practically, 
therefpre, the propagation of the apple by suckers may be dismissed 
from consideration for the foregoing reasons, and also for the far more 
powerful one that hardly any apples are grown on their own roots, and 
consequently few rooted suckers of popular varieties are obtaihable. 
Suckers are useful for increasing the number of stocks, but some growers 
even reject them for this purpose, for unless the dormant buds in the 
buried portion of the stem are carefully removed, stocks raised from 
suckers are almost sure to betray their origin by growing suckers after 
grafting. Still, suckers from the Doucin and Paradise stock, and also 
those from Codlins and Nonsuch varieties of apples, are often used for 
stocks. 
I—By Cuttings, 
Propagation of the apple by cuttings used to be much more practised 
than now. Before the theory of what are termed dwarfing stocks was 
either discovered or reduced to practice, it was useful and interesting^ 
as enabling cultivators to have apple trees of almost any size. By a 
careful selection of medium-sized wood for cuttings, and skilful culture 
afterwards, it was found that the propagation of the apple by cuttings 
tended to limit the size of the tree and hasten and augment fertility. 
Some varieties, such as the Dutch or German creeping apples, tbe 
