Published  by 
The  Rural  Publishing  Co* 
333  W.  30th  Street 
New  York 
VOL.  LXXV, 
Weekly,  One  Dollar  Per  Year 
Postpaid 
Single  Copies,  Five  Cents 
The  Business  Farmer  s  Paper 
NEW  YORK,  DECEMBER  30,  1910. 
No.  4410. 
The  Grand  Old  Man  of  Onondaga 
Judson  N.  Knapp 
N  Til  ARTY  BEGINNING.— West  of  the  city  of 
Syracuse,  on  the  limestone  belt  of  Onondaga 
County,  N.  Y.,  is  the  Knapp  homestead,  like  a 
crown  set  on  a  little  hill,  decked  with  nature's  jew¬ 
els,  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  of  which  is  the 
home.  Near  it  is  the  orchard,  which  has  for  several 
years  created  an  interest  to  students  from  several 
agricultural  colleges,  sis  well  as  practical  fruit 
growers  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  When 
Judson  N.  Knapp  was  12  years  old,  the  farm  was 
a  nursery,  and  at  this  early  age  lie  learned  the  art 
of  budding  and  cleft-grafting.  At  15  he  was  hired 
out  to  cut  big  cedar  logs  near  tlve  old  homestead, 
where  he  was  seriously  injured  by  a  saw  hooking 
way  but  usually  plodding  through  the  mud  on  foot. 
Finally  he  reached  Rochester,  Minn.,  where  he  bought 
80  acres,  plowed  and  ready  for  planting,  for 
$15  per  acre.  After  the  orchard  was  planted,  Mr. 
Knapp  offered  the  surplus  trees  for  sale,  and  they 
sold  fast  for  promised  money  which  was  never  paid. 
During  the  Summer  the  trees  had  a  wonderful 
growth,  hut  the  severe  Winter  destroyed  every  tree. 
Of  course,  the  Winter  of  1857  was  xeeptional,  but 
Mr.  Knapp’s  heart  was  young,  so  he  made  his  way 
back  to  the  old  farm  on  Onondaga  Hill  before  the 
Winter  ended,  and  root-grafted  several  thousand 
more  trees  of  chosen  varieties.  lie  again  tried  his 
fortune  in  Minnesota,  but  most  of  his  second  plant¬ 
ing  was  destroyed  by  the  frost.  lie  again  turned 
homeward,  arriving  in  Syracuse  on  Christmas  Day 
with  $2.50  as  the  sum  of  his  wealth.  But  he  was 
thought  until  one  day  it  haunted  him,  and  he  made 
several  attempts  but  failed.  Then  he  remembered 
that  while  a  boy,  a  friend  gave  him  a  fried  cake 
which  was  greasy  and  heavy,  and  he  asked  his 
mother  how  it  happened,  and  she  said.  “They  allow 
the  cakes  to  stay  in  the  lard  too  long.”  This  boy¬ 
hood  memory  was  tried  out  on  the  faucet,  which 
was  boiled  in  oil  and  allowed  to  cool  in  the  oil.  The 
wood  was  impervious  to  pressure  and  did  not  split. 
This  invention  was  sold  not  only  in  this  country 
but  all  over  the  world,  but  tlie  business  was  doomed 
after  thb  tire  which  destroyed  his  factory  and  the 
introduction  of  new  apparatus. 
BACK  TO  THE  FARM. — After  this  reverse,  Mr. 
Knapp  again  turned  his  heart  to  the  open  country, 
bought  back  the  old  farm,  and  began  hoarding 
horses  at  $2  a  week.  He  fed  them  the  Alfalfa  from 
Our  Wish  for  You  is  the  Happiest  Year  of  Your  Life.  Fig.  621 
his  knee-cap.  This  accident,  unfortunate  as  it 
seemed,  was  a  blessing  in  disguise,  for  the  hoy  lum¬ 
berman  was  taken  to  Syracuse,  where  he  met  a 
friend  who  showed  him  how  to  root-graft  apple 
trees.  This  little  event  played  an  important  part 
in  Judson’s  after  life. 
A  NURSERYMAN’S  DISAPPOINTMENT.— The 
following  Spring  he  set  to  work,  planting  several 
thousand  apples  seeds.  In  due  time  the  seedlings 
were  large  enough  to  root-graft  and  young  Jud¬ 
son  Knapp  put  into  practice  what  he  had  learned, 
while  ill,  of  root-grafting.  With  his  large  stock  of 
trees  ready  to  plant  he  looked  for  larger  fields  than 
the  old  farm  so,  like  many  young  men  of  1857  and 
1858,  his  heart  turned  to  the  big,  wide,  open  coun¬ 
try  of  the  West.  He  had  heard  that  Minnesota  was 
a  coming  fruit  State,  so  he  started  west,  riding  part 
rich  in  courage,  for  he  set  to  work  cutting  cedars, 
and  the  following  season  worked  in  his  father’s 
truck  garden,  for  which  he  received  a  new  suit  of 
clothes  as  pay. 
OTHER  ENTERPRISES.— In  1859  lie  secured  a 
position  in  a  hardware  store  at  $225  a  year,  but  the 
following  year  his  salary  was  raised  to  $400,  which 
was  the  highest  salary  paid  to  expert  help  in  those 
days.  He  saved  enough  out  of  this  to  go  into  the 
manufacturing  of  cigars,  with  a  partner,  whom  he 
bought  out  the  second  year.  In  1804  the  Govern¬ 
ment  taxed  each  thousand  cigars  $70,  so  Knapp 
sold  out.  with  sufficient  left  to  start,  an  art  and 
photographic  supply  store,  and  he  was  in  this  busi¬ 
ness  when  it  was  suggested  to  him  that  some  one 
should  make  a  vinegar  faucet  which  should  be  of 
wood,  yet  not  split.  He  gave  the  suggestion  little 
the  farm,  and  used  the  manure  to  start  his  young 
orchard  of  15  acres.  His  efforts  were  again  in  dan¬ 
ger  after  four  years.  The  field  mice  had  girdled  150 
of  his  trees.  He  used  his  inventive  miiul  to  save 
the  trees  by  inserting  apple  twigs  of  the  previous 
year's  growth  above  and  below  the  wounded  parts, 
and  in  this  way  supplying  sap  to  the  growing  tree. 
Ml*.  Knapp  is  known  as  the  father  of  bridge-graft¬ 
ing.  The  trees  were  kept  from  fruiting  for  15 
years,  the  food  then  removed  and  the  check  forced 
fruit.  There  are  no  "off  years,"  for  in  this  orchard 
the  fruit  is  thinned  to  a  single  apple  to  a  spur, 
and  the  sap  that  would  naturally  go  into  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  seed  in  the  fruit  is  stored  up  in  the  fruit 
spur  for  the  following  year.  Mr.  Knapp  was  also 
pioneer  in  this  discovery.  The  trees  are  sprayed 
five  times  each  year,  the  apples  are  fi*ee  from  in- 
