Vol. LXX. No. 4121. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 21, 1911. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
root system here is poor, and no fruit grower ought 
to plant such a tree when he can get better quality. 
Its height is six feet four inches, and it measures 
fifteen-sixteenths inch diameter. Outside of the 
roots, this is a well-developed tree. 
In Fig. 409' four undesirable trees are shown. No. 1 
is a one-year Rhode Island Greening bud that has not 
foot high and too small to transplant with profit. 
Fig. 410 pictures a crooked peach tree with a poor 
root. It measures three feet four inches high from 
the collar, and is nine-sixteenths-inch calibre. This 
is not small by any means, but the formation is bad. 
Fig. 411 figures two splendid specimens of North¬ 
ern-grown peach trees. They are five-eighths-inch 
calibre, dug while still 
growing on September 4. 
The one on the left is 
an Early Crawford. It 
is four feet two inches 
high. The other is El- 
berta, without doubt the 
most extensively planted 
variety in the country. 
Notice the roots on these 
trees. They are bound to 
grow and do well if 
given any kind of a 
chance. Some fruit grow¬ 
ers would probably want 
to cut out the top some¬ 
what to make low heads. 
All these trees were 
dug on September 4, and 
there was a whole month 
of growing weather yet 
for peaches and apples. 
SELECTING A NURSERY TREE. 
Why One Is Better Than Another. 
During the coming season we shall tell our readers 
all we can about nursery trees and the nursery busi¬ 
ness. Fruit growing has become an immense busi¬ 
ness, and one cornerstone of it is the quality of the 
trees which are planted 
in the orchard. These F 
trees should be well 
grown and well shaped 
if the planter ever ex¬ 
pects fair returns. There 
are distinct grades of 
trees—one being decid¬ 
edly better than another. 
We have not yet seen a 
satisfactory description 
of these different trees 
so that a buyer would 
know what to select 
when buying. Having 
told how such trees are 
grown we now show 
pictures of the different 
grades. So far as we j 
know, there is nothing 
which illustrates this 
side of the business 
more clearly than this 
set of pictures. They 
should be saved for 
reference in buying. 
From time to time dur¬ 
ing the season we shall 
take up other features 
of the nursery trade and 
try to make them clear. 
Fig. 407 shows char¬ 
acteristic apple trees, 
good nursery stock. No. 
1 is a specimen of a 
three - year - old apple 
graft. It is fifteen-six¬ 
teenths inch in diame¬ 
ter at the collar, and six 
feet four inches high, 
roots excluded. The 
roots were cut some¬ 
what in digging, but no¬ 
tice that they do not 
have the fibres like the 
two-year-old next to it. 
No. 2 is a first-class 
two-year-old apple tree; 
splendid roots, well de¬ 
veloped head, clean and 
thrifty, seven-eighths 
inch in diameter. No. 
3 is a one-year-old Bald¬ 
win bud four feet seven 
inches in height. No. 4 
is a Rhode Island Green¬ 
ing bud. It is hard to 
make the Greening grow straight, but this is a fine 
specimen. It is difficult to tell the difference between 
a two-year-old and a three-year-old apple tree. A 
one-year bud can be easily pointed out. It is the 
growth of one year and can be headed any height 
when set out. A little care would need to be used in 
pruning the three-year-old, so as to counterbalance 
the loss of roots. 
Fig. 408 shows a three-year-old apple tree. The 
Breaking a Combination 
Hon. Samuel L. Shank, 
Mayor of Indiana¬ 
polis, Ind. 
Dear Sir:—Will you 
be kind enough to give 
us the facts about the 
so-called “potato deal’’ 
in your city? We have 
seen many newspaper re¬ 
ports which may or may 
not be reliable, and we 
would like £o give our 
readers the exact facts. 
This matter of bringing 
the consumer closer to 
the producer is one 
which we have advo¬ 
cated for years. 
Yours truly, 
EDITOR THE RURAL NEW- 
YORKER. 
Replying to yours of 
October 1, permit me to 
say that the plan of 
Mayor Shank, as tried 
in this city last Satur¬ 
day, is to bring into the 
city market houses fruits 
and vegetables purchased 
direct from the produc¬ 
ers. This eliminates the 
middleman’s profit and 
gives tremendous ad¬ 
vantage in the disposal of the stuff at prices within 
the bounds of reason. So far the experiment has 
been with potatoes only. These the mayor pur¬ 
chased in Michigan in carload lots at 69 cents, f. o. b. 
Indianapolis. He was able to sell them at 75 cents a 
bushel. This paid all expenses. At the time potatoes 
were selling at $1.60 a bushel in this city. Dealers 
immediately lowered their price to $1, but raised it 
again as soon as the mayor’s supply was exhausted. 
No. 1, Three-Year Apple Graft; No. 2, Two-Year Tree; No. 3, One-Year Baldwin; 
No. 4, R. I. Greening Bud. Fig. 407. 
developed properly. It is one foot two inches high, but 
give the nurseryman two years more and he will make 
something out of it. No. 2 is a third-class three- 
year-old apple tree, three feet eight inches high, one- 
half inch calibre. It is crooked, and old, and small. 
No. 3 is a second-class three-year-old that should be 
burned up. It would not be so bad if the roots were 
not all on the one side. No. 4 is a Baldwin apple 
bud that did not make a good growth. It is only 1J4 
