1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
23i 
TOP-WORKING ORCHARD TREES. 
I have about 30 Wolf River, 30 Ren Davis, six years old, 
and 20 R. I. Greenings and r,0 Pewankee apple trees three 
years old in the young orchard that I wish to top-work over 
with Twenty Ounce, King and Northern Spy, the three 
latter varieties doing well here. Can I do this all this 
Spring, or will it take two or three years to work over 
entire trees? How should I cut back these trees to graft 
on so as to make it a success? What do orchard and 
nurserymen mean by saying that the King and Twenty 
Ounce varieties are short-lived on their own roots? Do 
these short-lived sorts attain an age of 25 years before they 
decline, with good care and fertility? header. 
Wisconsin. 
The Twenty Ounce. King and Spy are not usually 
considered reliably hardy in Wisconsin. A few old 
specimens may be found in favored localities, but these 
varieties are not recommended for general planting in 
Wisconsin. Secondly, two of the stocks mentioned, viz., 
R. 1. Greening and Pewaukee, must be placed in the 
same class. It is doubtful whether a dozen healthy 
R. I. Greening trees can be found in the State, and 
the Pewaukee is fast losing favor with Wisconsin fruit 
growers on account of its tendency to blight, and is 
generally a short-lived tree. The Ren Davis and Wolf 
River are hardy, and the latter, from its almost perfect 
habit of growth, should make an excellent stock for 
top-working. To-working has many advocates in Wis¬ 
consin, but the stock recommended is Virginia crab, 
and not apple stocks. Those who champion the method 
claim for results absolute hardiness of roots and trunk, 
and earlier and more prolific bearing for the top- 
worked varieties. A common practice is to plant in the 
Spring two or three-year-old Virginia crab stocks and 
top-work the following Spring, using the whip or 
tongue-graft. Referring to the problem in hand: if the 
trees are as stated, three and six years respectively 
from the root graft, the top-working can be easily and 
entirely done in one season. From three to five of the 
best ‘“scaffold” branches may be 
selected to form a balanced top, 
and grafted a few inches from 
the trunk. If, on the other hand, 
the trees have been planted 
three and six years they are 
(probably) six and nine years 
old, and in the case of the older 
ones it would be advisable to 
graft but one-half of the number 
of branches required to form a 
good top the first season. In 
either case it is advisable to 
leave some of the secondary 
branches the first season to pro¬ 
vide nourishment for the roots, 
and to prevent a possible over¬ 
supply of sap to the grafts. 
These feeders may be removed 
the following Spring. Top-work¬ 
ing on very young trees often 
proves successful, but in old 
trees it is but a makeshift. 
Sec. Wis. State Hort. Society. F. cranefield. 
I should thin out the larger branches, leaving only 
enough to form the framework or foundation for the 
future top of the tree. The smaller branches and twigs 
should be left to protect the body and branches from 
the sun. These larger limbs that arc left, upon which the 
future head of the tree is to be built, I would cut 
back to within three or four feet of the trunk; these 
shortened branches will throw out numerous strong 
shoots the following season. One or two of the strong¬ 
est and most promising shoots near the end of the 
branches may be grafted the next Spring, leaving the 
smaller branches for shade and protection to the grafts 
imtil a year or so later, when they can come off. The 
King and Twenty Ounce arc not considered hardy in 
the Northwest. If top-worked on varieties that are 
hardy in root and stem they may last a number of 
years. C. M. HOBBS. 
Indiana. 
While the process of top-grafting trees the fruit of 
which has proven to be unsatisfactory is very old, the 
method of setting out entire orchards with some hardy 
strong-growing variety, and then from one to three years 
after top-working with the variety wanted is compara¬ 
tively new, and quite a volume could be filled with the 
reasons given, some of them good and some that still 
remain to be proven. A tree is said to be on its own 
root when grown just as it comes from the nursery, 
for the small section of seedling root used in propagat¬ 
ing has very little influence on the future habit of the 
tree. Such varieties as King, Twenty Ounce and 
others have a reputation for being short-lived, not on 
account of a lack of vitality so much as a lack of hardi¬ 
ness, and the bark on the bodies is apt to split and peel 
m a severe freeze. For this reason such varieties are 
apt to be longer-lived when top-worked on trees whose 
bodies do not so split in cold weather. Such varieties 
as Wagener, King and Twenty Ounce often bear for 
40, 50 or more years when worked on hardy varieties. 
Most people, when starting the top of a young apple 
tree, leave too many branches, and when the tree comes 
to full bearing find it necessary to use the saw very 
freely, or run out a long limb before there is room to 
develop branches. On trees one year from setting I 
would seldom set more than one scion, and that in 
the center. We have more than 20 acres of apple 
orchards top-worked about 15 years ago and find the 
tops much belter and stronger when one scion was used 
than when three or four were set. Trees three years 
set, if thrifty, would need three or four scions and on 
six years perhaps more, but trees, of that age can be 
readily changed in one season, leaving the superfluous 
limbs to be taken out when the scions were well estab¬ 
lished, or at any time when it is seen that the scions 
need the nourishment. Do not try to cut these trees 
back to a good form this year, but set a few scions on 
such limbs as you think you will want to develop, and 
let the rest alone, or enough to preserve a reasonable 
balance between the root and top. l. j. post. 
Kent Co., Mich. 
I am becoming more and more convinced that this 
plan of setting some strong-growing variety like the 
Spy, and top-working it on something else, with the 
idea of getting a stronger earlier bearing tree, is largely 
a delusion and a snare, and I want so to go on record. 
I speak from costly experience as well as observation. 
The King may be an exception, as it is likely to decay 
about the base, when grown on its own stock. 1 believe 
in using selected scions or buds, and prefer to have 
those put in the root or stock in the beginning. I do 
not consider it an unmixed good to have a tree come 
into bearing so very early. Longevity and precocity do 
not usually go together. Further, the injury to trees 
by working over will more than offset any increase of 
fruit from bearing sooner by being top-worked. Here 
is the difficulty; we cut back the tree and graft. Some¬ 
FRAZER IiARDSKIN APPLE. NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 102. 
times the graft will outgrow the stock, then blow out, 
and there is a misshapen tree forevermore. .Where the 
scion is set, there is always a chance of disease germs 
working in, and a dead or diseased tree results. Bud¬ 
ding will lessen these troubles, and if one is to top- 
work, it should be done in this way. Recently I was 
in the orchard of one of the most successful apple 
growers in New York State. His mature orchards 
were an object lesson in themselves. So was a pear 
orchard, set as is the usual custom without top-working, 
and cultivated, but when we came to the others that 
were top-worked and mulched—“‘what a fall was there, 
my countrymen.” Trees with the grafts blown or 
broken out, ill-shaped heads, and an inferior orchard. 
This, too, in the hands of one of the best and most 
careful growers, himself a skilled grafter. Could I 
show a picture of a block of 50 Baldwins in my own 
orchard, top-worked in Suttons, it would say more 
than I can in a column of print. T have written at 
length, so as to make my position clear. In this case 
the trees are already set, and I always believe in mak¬ 
ing the best of a bad bargain. Tf the trees are strong 
and healthy, I would not pull them out. 
EDWARD VAN AI.STYNE. 
THE SPENCER SEEDLESS APPLE. 
The Seedless or Navel orange is surely a very great 
improvement over the ordinary orange. In this the 
core and seeds are eliminated, and the quality is better 
than in those bearing seeds. If an apple should be pro¬ 
duced as good as or better in quality than any we now 
have, and that was devoid of core as well as seeds, it 
would certainly be a very great acquisition. But the 
mere fact that the seeds are missing so long as it has 
the core remaining, I don’t think is of any advantage. 
And when that apple is not as good as scores of others 
it surely should not be put on the market. We have 
varieties enough now, goodness knows, and those poor 
enough, and we don’t want to multiply varieties unless 
we can have those better in some way than any we 
now have. 
Has the Spencer Seedless apple any superiority, any 
special claims, why it should be propagated and sold? 
If not, then to put it on the market would be an injury 
to the apple industry. At the January meeting of State 
Fruit Growers’ Association held here in Lockport, spec¬ 
imens of the Spencer Seedless apples were shown, and 
one was cut and small samples passed to those standing 
about. The majority of those who tasted it said it 
was no better than the Ben Davis, some said not near 
as good, and nobody said it was near as good as the 
Baldwin which was cut and passed around at the same 
time, and the sample of Baldwin was by no means of 
the best quality, rather a poor one. I failed to see a 
single characteristic to recommend the seedless apple. 
In size it is about on a par with Jonathan, no larger, 
not near as attractive in appearance. It had just as 
large a core as the Baldwin, its flesh was hard and 
dry, the calyx was very deep and the only claim the 
agents made was that it was seedless. T fail to see 
what advantage the mere absence of seeds constitutes. 
So long as the core is there just as much of the apple 
would be wasted as though there were seeds in that 
core. As to growth and hardiness of the tree 1 know 
nothing. There are several acres of the trees here in 
a nursery, but they are not of sufficient size yet to 
show the style of growth. Judging from the apples I 
have seen there is absolutely nothing to commend it. 
j. s. WOODWARD. 
WHAT TO DO WITH DWARF PEARS. 
I believe that the best thing for the average grower 
to do who has an orchard of dwarf Duchess pears is 
to take what he can get from them, which will be a 
fair profit on the investment, . if trees are properly 
pruned, fertilized and cultivated. Dwarf Duchess or¬ 
chards are paying some grow¬ 
ers a good profit, but it should 
be understood that the dwarf 
orchard requires more care than 
standard trees of varieties like 
Bartlett, Kieffer, etc. All the 
successful growers of dwarf 
Duchess that I have talked with 
' practice very severe pruning 
after trees get several years old, 
cutting back new growth each 
year to two or three inches, and 
even back into the old wood. 
Some practice Summer prun¬ 
ing in addition. As usually 
grown they are not as salable as 
Bartlett, or Bose, and many at¬ 
tempts have been made to graft 
them over to some other variety. 
I know of a number of orchards 
in which this has been done 
with very poor success; one 
large orchard belonging to a 
professional nurseryman was grafted over by him 
seven years ago, and great care taken to see that 
it was properly done. It turned out a wreck, 
and he recently told me that he would never again 
advise a man to graft them over to other varieties. 
Scarcely any trees of the variety are being planted in 
western New York at the present time. I know of 
one orchard top-grafted to Bose several years ago with 
success; trees bore heavy crops, but there has been a 
heavy loss from blight the past two years. Fig. 100 
shows a single tree from orchard of 2,000 dwarf 
Duchess trees that were partly grafted over to Bart- 
letts Spring of 1903. In Spring of 1904 the remaining 
branches were cither grafted or cut close to body of 
tree. Many of the Bartlett tops show blossom buds 
at this time; there is scarcely a missing tree, and the 
orchard now gives every promise of being successfully 
worked over. I shall watch it for the next three years 
with interest. The above are the only two apparent 
successes out of possibly two score of attempts at 
grafting over dwarf Duchess orchards that have come 
under my observation, so when asked for advice 1 say 
take what the Duchess trees will give you under proper 
care, or else pull out and plant something more 
profitable. _b. d. v. b. 
FRAZER HARDSKIN APPLE.—This is a small 
apple that I received from North Carolina, and I think 
it has been discarded by the disseminators, but, although 
I would not advise the planting of it except by amateurs, 
yet it has more value than many we do plant. The 
tree, is upright, tall and regular. It is a good and 
regular bearer. It keeps later and with much less loss 
than the Romanite and the flavor, reminding one of 
Evening Party, is much better than Romanite, Shockley, 
McCuller, Terry or any other of the little apples that 
are planted in the South for late Winter that I am 
acquainted with. In color it is a nice but not brilliant 
red. It is not “tender” but, rather, crushing, perhaps 
you will call it woody, and there is some lack of juice. 
Yet I and my family all like it, and you will agree 
with me that there are many worse apples to eat in 
February and April than Frazer Ilardskin. Fully 
“good.” It is shown in Fig. 102. 
Illinois. benj. buckman. 
