16 
THE APPLE. 
Burknott, the Keswick, and other codlins, rooted freely with little if 
any more care than that bestowed on currant, or gooseberry cuttings. 
Cuttings of one, one and a half, or two feet in length of the current or 
two-year-old wood were placed in the ground during the winter, and 
expected to grow during the next spring or summer. The cuttings 
were generally dug in and placed in rows from a foot to 18in. asunder, 
and from 4in. to 9in. in the rows. A few of the bottom buds were 
removed from the cutting, which was cut level across under a bud at 
its lower extremity. ' A point was also often made of cutting the lower 
ends of the cutting over half an inch or so below the junction of the 
current year’s and last year’s wood. This left a heel, as it was called, 
on the cuttings, and it was generally from this heel that the roots 
protruded. A small trench was then taken out at one end of the ground, 
and a foot or so of the soil dug over. A straight line was then cut out 
along the front edge of the dug ground. The cuttings were set in the • 
trench, slightly sloping against the newly-dug ground ; a small spit of 
earth was laid up against them, which was firmly trodden down with 
the foot on to the base of the cuttings. The digging then proceeded until 
the distance was reached for another row, which was inserted and treated 
as before until the whole were inserted. This rough and ready way of 
treating apple cuttings led, however, to a good many failures, and the 
latter again resulted in the general disuse of this mode of propagation. 
The freer rooting varieties did well from cuttings ,* but some of the 
more shy rooters gave but a small percentage of plants to the number 
of cuttings. In many cases, too, the cuttings were far too large—in 
more, perhaps, they were too strong. Some even went so far as to try 
to root good sized branches covered with flower buds, and to have them 
rooted in time to carry the crop through on their own roots the first 
season. Failing in this, and in rooting many varieties with any certainty, 
the practice of propagating the apple by cuttings has been generally 
abandoned. This is, perhaps, to be regretted, for there can be no 
doubt that with more care in the selection of cuttings and greater skill 
in their management, the larger number of apples may be propagated in 
this way. Having our apples on their own roots would enable us to avoid 
the battles and difficulties and failures of the stocks, and perhaps, at 
times, to command a larger amount of success in what is known and 
designated “ petit ” culture. 
It is found, for instance, that moderate sized and horizontal branchlets 
of the apple root in less time and with more certainty^than stronger and 
more vertical shoots. Not only this, but such branches also fruit sooner 
and more abundantly, while of smaller size. Thus the way to early and 
plentiful fruit bearing may be found in the selections of the proper 
