420 
April 2, 
NOTES ON GRAFTING; EDUCATION. 
When the question of grafting came 
up at one of the horticultural session-s 
during Farmers’ Week at Cornell, there 
was a good deal of interest manifested 
in the different ways of doing it, and 
the methods employed, and whether it 
was best to set young orchards of some 
good stock like Northern Spy and graft 
them later. I have had some experi¬ 
ence and some facts came to me that 
may help others to do this work. About 
1804 or 1805 a great-uncle of mine went 
afoot in the Winter from the Lake 
country down to Dutchess County, and 
from the pomate at a crder mill washed 
out about two quarts of apple 'seeds, 
brought them back, planted them in 
the Spring and started a nursery. None 
of these was budded in the nursery 
row, but fronr this stock a good many 
orchards were set in this section, rang¬ 
ing from 50 to 150 - trees. Some of 
these, after they were set, they began 
grafting on the bodies, and as they grew 
larger on the limbs, but a great many 
of them were left as seedlings. Quite a 
number of these trees are still alive and 
bearing fruit. I have two out of one 
of the orchards, one a Fall Pippin 
grafted about 80 years ago. and one a 
King grafted eight years ago, that has 
borne three successive crops. The last 
of the seedlings was cut down last Win¬ 
ter on my place. I have a cherry tree 
that I grafted 57 or 58 years ago; it 
was a sprout that came up in the yard, 
and was one of the earliest and most 
interesting experiences that I remember. 
Since then I have grafted or budded 
almost everything, grapes, peaches, 
plums, pears, apricots, quinces and ap¬ 
ples. With the plums, pears and quinces 
the trees have not seemed to do as well 
or live as long, but with peaches, cher¬ 
ries. apricots and apples I cannot see 
but that the tree has lasted as long and 
done as well and with some varieties 
far better; then you have the chance of 
selecting your scions from strong, 
healthy, productive trees. I am coming 
more and more to believe there is just 
as much in keeping up a variety of fruit 
as there is in keeping up the standard 
of a herd of Jersey cattle. 
I now have a young King apple or¬ 
chard that was grafted on Northern 
Spy stock five years ago, trees set four 
years before; it was all done in one 
year, enough small limbs being left on 
to take the sap and keep the tree grow¬ 
ing. They were not all cut off until the 
second year. There has been a great 
deal of pleasure in doing this work and 
in most cases it has been profitable. We 
certainly ought to teach the boys and 
girls in our country schools to do this 
work. 
Since writing the above I have re¬ 
ceived three inquiries in regard to graft¬ 
ing; two of them were asking if I 
could send some one to do the work. 
I for one am ashamed of the fact that 
such conditions should exist in agri¬ 
cultural and horticultural communities. 
Why does it exist? I heard a mother 
say not long ago that John was going 
to the high school this Winter, and was 
going to study Latin and German. I 
said to myself: “Poor mother, poor 
John; when he gets through he won’t 
know enough to set a hen.” Well, I 
am glad the people are waking up, and 
that there has been 'such a good be¬ 
ginning made along practical lines in 
the country. I am right glad also that 
some of the big fellows are getting in¬ 
terested in us poor farmers, such as 
college presidents, Governors, Con¬ 
gressmen, etc., but we don’t want to 
depend too much on them. I don’t be¬ 
lieve they know as much about the con¬ 
ditions and needs of the country to-day 
as we do. I heard one of these men 
talking to farmers last Winter. He 
said he was born on a farm, etc., etc. 
Somehow, I couldn’t help but think 
about Esau during all his talk (selling 
his birthright for a mess of pottage). 
One of the principle objections I have 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
heard in the way of teaching agricul¬ 
ture and horticulture in our schools has 
been that we did not have teachers that 
could do the work. Why is it neces¬ 
sary to wait? Take, for instance, this 
case in horticulture. There are not 
many districts in the country but what 
there is some person who could go into 
the school and teach the boys and girls 
all the practical work in grafting and 
budding; could teach them to know and 
describe a few of the best local varie¬ 
ties of apples and other kinds of fruit, 
etc. Enlarge on this and take selection 
of seeds, cutting potatoes, learning to 
know weed seeds and a thousand other 
things in the country that should be 
interesting to us all. Have such a 
person give one or two lessons a week 
and pay him for his time and trouble. 
Where a school does not have a person 
available, send one around on the lec¬ 
ture plan. There ought not to be a 
boy or girl leave one district or public 
schools in the country who did not 
know in part at least these foundation 
principles of farming. Interest the 
boys and girls in these things, and they 
will want to stay on the farm. 
Trumansburg, N. Y. T. H. K. 
SEEDLING APPLES AND PEARS. 
C. L., Dcmster, N. Y .—I want some pear 
and apple seeds. I only wish to start 
about 500 trees of each kind. ITow many 
seeds would I want of each kind? What 
do you think of the plan of starting trees 
in this way to be top-grafted when about 
three years old? Some growers begin to 
think that they can get better trees in this 
way that are less liable to blight on the 
pears more especially than if budded at 
the ground, and the cost of trees much 
less where one can do his own grafting, 
and be much more sure of kinds wanted. 
Ans. —You wish to grow about 500 
seedlings of each, apple and pear. You 
would need two pounds of each. The 
apple seed in this quantity would be 
retail price, about $1.25 per pound, and 
pear seed about $2.00 per pound. This 
seed is in a dry condition, and should 
have warm water poured over it, and 
then leave it to soak at least 48 hours 
before planting. The seed should be 
planted in deep, rich soil, which had 
been previously prepared by deep plow¬ 
ing and finely pulverized by a disk har¬ 
row, followed by a smoothing harrow. 
Furrow the ground with a sled, making 
furrows about two inches deep, and 
three feet apart. Sow the seed about 
as thick as peas would be sown in the 
row, cover with a rake about one inch 
deep. If these seedlings are grown 
under favorable conditions they may 
grow into grafting size trees, in the 
three years that C. L. allows for them. 
Apple seedlings have been grown ex¬ 
tensively in the West, mostly in Iowa 
and Nebraska of late years, and some 
few pear seedlings have been grown in 
the same section, but nurserymen are 
importing all of their pear seedlings, 
and most of their apple seedlings from 
Europe, as neither soil nor climatic con¬ 
ditions are favorable in our latitude for 
the development of such seedlings. The 
pear leaf-blights badly here in New Jer¬ 
sey, and will in unfavorable locations 
in New York State. I do not believe 
that C. L., without previous experience, 
could succeed in growing the apple and 
pear from seed, but granting that he 
could it would not pay him; neither do 
I believe that his trees would be any 
more proof against blight than if they 
were root-grafted on good French pear 
stocks. The Northern Spy or North¬ 
western Greening make ideal stocks for 
top-grafting weak or slow-growing va¬ 
rieties of apples on. The Beurre 
d’Anjou is a good healthy stock to graft 
the weaker varieties of pear on. Get 
good trees that will measure three-quar¬ 
ters to one inch across where grafts are 
to be inserted, and they will make 
cheaper trees than home-grown seed¬ 
lings. where the grower is inexperienced. 
These varieties are good growers and 
most nurserymen have them for sale at 
reasonable prices, and if you graft them 
from trees where you know the variety 
wanted is straight, you will not be dis¬ 
appointed when fruiting time comes. If 
seedlings are wanted most of the large 
nurseries can supply them at a less price 
than the inexperienced can grow them. 
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ii 
Dead 
Bugs are the Only 
Safe Bugs 99 
Kill the potato bugs, tobacco worms 
apple caterpillars and all insect pests 
by regularly applying 
