316 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
March  3,  1923 
1  low  Cleft-graft inf)  is  Done.  Fig.  101 
crosses  between  Delicious  and  Deacon  Jones,  the 
latter  a  large  red  apple  somewhat  similar  in  shape 
to  Delicious,  and  several  of  these  are  most  promis¬ 
ing.  Out  of  the  lot  Ave  hope  eventually  to  find  a 
seedling  which  will  give  larger  size  and  therefore 
fewer  culls  than  Delicious. 
RED  SPY. — Another  apple  now  groAving  on  the 
grounds  at  the  station  is  attracting  a  good  deal  of- 
attention.  This  is  Red  Spy,  a  sport  of  Northern  Spy, 
Avhich  originated  with  0.  E.  Green  at  Victor,  N.  1T. 
Mr.  Green  has  turned  over  the  variety  to  the  station, 
and  it  is  uoav  being  distributed  through  the  Ncav 
York  State  Fruit  Testing  Association.  Red  Spy  is 
a  counterpart  of  the  common  Spy  in  tree  and  fruit 
except  that  the  apples  are  a  solid  bright  red,  about 
the  handsomest  fruit  one  can  imagine.  Those  avIio 
contemplate  planting  Northern  Spy  might  Avell  wait 
a  year  or  two  until  trees  of  this  bud  sport  can  be 
obtained. 
PUD  SELECTION. — Apple  growers  will  be  much 
interested  in  the  outcome  of  experiments  under¬ 
taken  at  this  station  to  improve  standard  A-arieties 
by  taking  buds  and  grafts  from  the  best  Dees  of 
any  variety  in  the  orchard.  These  tests  have  been 
under  Avay  for  about  15  years.  There  is  nothing 
but  failure  to  report.  We  have  not  been  able  to 
improve  any  variety  in  any  character  through  bud 
selection.  With  the  exception  of  Avork  done  in 
California  ayc  cannot  learnt  that  any  other  experi¬ 
menter  has  had  better  success  in  improving  ,  varie¬ 
ties  by  bud  selection.  Moreover,  the  station  grows 
all  of  the  varieties  that  can  be  had  from  nursery¬ 
men  in  different  parts  of  the  country  who  have 
thought  they  had  improved  apples  through  bud  selec¬ 
tion.  In  no  case  has  it  been  found  on  the  station 
grounds  that  the  improved  offspring  are  in  any  Avay 
different  from  the  parent.  It  would  seem  that  most 
of  the  varieties  found  in  trees  and  in  orchard  are 
due  to  soil  and  environment  and  are  not  handed 
doAvn  through  bud  selection.  There  is  one  exception 
that  must  be  noted,  that  of  color  of  fruit ;  the  Red 
Spy,  mentioned  above,  is  a  good  example.  Besides 
the  Red  Spy  there  are  red  Gravensteins,  Olden- 
burgs,  Romes  and  red  variations  of  several  less  Avell- 
known  apples  which  come  true  from  buds  and 
grafts.  Such  bud  sports  are  phenomena  that  have 
been  known  for  centuries.  v.  v.  hedbick. 
Ridding  the  Orchard  of  Many  Varieties 
MANY  of  the  apple  orchards  in  New  York  State 
are  not  yielding  the  income  that  they  should, 
often  due  to  there  being  too  many  varieties  with  not 
enough  of  any  one  to  be  handled  and  marketed  to 
Top-working  a  Young  Apple  Tree,  Fig.  102 
advantage.  In  some  orchards  the  large  number 
may  likely  be  attributed  to  the  salesmanship  of 
nursery  agents.  In  others  it  may  be  due  to 
the  long  list  of  relatively  unimportant  varieties 
which  appeared  in  the  premium  books  of  the  various 
county  fairs.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  in  many 
instances  the  number  of  varieties  has  been  mate¬ 
rially  increased  because  trees  haA'e  not  proven  true 
to  name.  Regardless  of  how  it  may  have  happened, 
it  is  unfortunate,  but  true,  that  very  many  orchards, 
particularly  the  comparatively  small  plantings,  are 
producing  too  many  kinds  of  apples,  many  of  them 
of  little  commercial  importance.  Except  in  special 
market  where  one  is  able  to  dispose  of  a  succession 
of  A-arieties  to  advantage,  four  or  five,  well  adapted 
to  the  section  for  the  commercial  crop,  are  usually 
considered  enough  even  in  the  larger  plantings.  A 
carload  of  apples  composed  of  half  a  dozen  or  more 
varieties  will  seldom,  if  ever,  sell  for  as  much  money 
as  a  straight  car  of  one  variety.  Even  though  a 
car  may  be  made  up  largely  of  some  good  standard 
sort,  a  few  barrels  of  odds  and  ends  may  seriously 
affect  its  sale. 
The  remedy  is  not  difficult  in  comparatively  young 
trees,  those  which  have  been  in  bearing  for  only  a 
An  Attractive  Garden  Arbor.  Fig.  t03 
few  years.  They  may  be  top-Avorked  \A-ith  compara¬ 
tive  ease,  but  in  the  old  orchard  it  is  a  problem  to 
know  wlmt  to  do.  A  few  unimportant,  odd  varieties 
scattered  through  the  old  orchard  are  a  nuisance, 
and  it  is  A*ery  probable  that  they  aa’OuUI  be  of  more 
value  as  fireAvood  than  as  a  source  of  income  from 
their  fruit.  The  trees  in  many  of  the  mature  plant¬ 
ings  are  often  loo  close,  and  the  remoA-al  of  the  un¬ 
desirable  kinds  in  such  instances  Avould  doubtless 
be  of  sufficient  benefit  to  those  around  to  Avarrant 
their  being  taken  out.  Where  it  would  seem  unwise 
to  remove  such  trees,  there  is  only  one  course  to 
pursue,  and  that  is  to  top-work  them  to  the  desired 
variety  by  cleft-grafting. 
(LEFT-GRAFTING.  —  In  top-Avorking  mature 
trees  20  to  40  years  of  age  it  becomes  necessary  to 
do  the  grafting  Avell  up  in  a  considerable  number  of 
the  main  branches.  It  may  be  necessary  to  do  this 
Avork  10,  12  or  eA-en  15  ft.  from  the  main  trunk  in  or¬ 
der  to  set  the  scions  in  healthy,  comparatively  young 
wood,  •’>  or  4  inches  in  diameter.  It  is  alAA'ays  adAis- 
able  to  leave  some  limbs  of  the  original  variety  on 
each  branch,  back  of  the  point.  Avliere  the  scions  are 
-et,  to  furnish  leaf  surface  for  nourishment  to  the 
branch  and  roots,  and  to  prevent  suuscald.  These 
limbs  may  be  removed  as  the  scions  develop  and 
afford  shade  to  the  branches.  It  is  better  to  spend 
two  or  possibly  three  years  in  working  over  a  large 
tree  than  ro  complete  the  job  in  one  season.  In  top- 
Avorking  a  mature  tree  the  amount  of  Avood  necessar¬ 
ily  cut  aAvay  amounts  to  a  very  severe  pruning.  This 
may  cause  a  vigorous  late  groAvth.  and  the  tree  may 
go  into  Winter  Avith  its  tissues  not  Avell  matured, 
and  result  in  more  or  less  Winter  injury  in  the  case 
of  severe  low  temperatures.  In  order  to  lessen  the 
chances  of  Winter  injury  in  its  various  forms,  and 
to  maintain  the  vigor  of  the  tree,  it  is  very  essential 
Old  Variety  Branches  Should  Be  Cut  Out  Now 
Fig.  104 
that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  original  tree  be  left. 
When  a  limb  three  or  more  inches  in  diameter  is 
being  grafted,  it  is  always  desirable  to  set  at  least 
two  scions.  Four  may  often  be  advisable.  To  avoid 
bad  crotches  only  one  should  be  alloAved  to  groAV 
permanently.  The  other  one  or  more,  as  the  case 
may  be,  should  be  kept  dAvarfed  by  pruning,  but 
alloAved  to  grow  for  two  or  three  years  until  the  old 
stub  is  practically  healed  over,  when  they  should 
be  cut  off.  Sometimes  the  growths  from  two  scions 
may  be  left  if  they  are  groAving  in  directions  not 
likely  to  form  bad  crotches.  As  the  grafts  attain 
considerable  size,  remaining  limbs  of  the  original 
variety  should  be  gradually  cut  away.  This  should 
cover  a  period  of  from  three  to  four  or  five  years, 
depending  somewhat  on  the  number  of  grafts  set 
and  the  groAvth  which  they  make,  and  also  the  size 
and  vigor  of  the  tree. 
WORKING  OVER  YOUNG  TREES.— When  a 
tree  has  come  into  bearing  and  it  is  found  to  be  an 
undesirable  variety,  it  should  be  top- worked  with¬ 
out  delay.  Cleft-grafting,  as  in  the  older  trees,  is 
the  best  method  to  use.  A  tree  four  or  five  years  old 
may  be  Avorked  over  in  one  season  by  setting  the 
scions  in  five  or  six  carefully  selected  branches.  It 
is  Avell  to  leave  some  limbs  of  the  original  variety, 
and  cut  them  aAvay  during  the  next  two  years. 
With  trees  that  do  not  come  into  bearing  until  they 
have  reached  the  age  of  eight  or  10  years,  and  when 
the  grafting  has  to  be  delayed  until  then,  it  is  prob¬ 
ably  better  to  graft  some  of  the  limbs  one  season 
and  more  the  following  year.  Either  this  should 
be  done,  or  the  removing  of  the  original  variety 
should  be  gradual,  taking  two  or  three  years  in 
which  to  cut  it  all  away.  This  Avill  lessen  the 
An  Old  Tree  Several  Years  After  Top-working 
Fig.  105 
