THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
77 
We know tlnit nmeli of the failure of orchards to hear is due to insects 
and fuufji, and some of it to neglect of cvdtivation and lack of plant 
food ; hut there are orchards in which none of these causes seem to he 
resjamsihle for the fruitlessness. Smdi orchards seem to he sterile hy 
habit. Now, it is well-known that no two trees of the same variety, 
and standing!: side hy side, will hear equally, any more than they will 
ijrow e(|ually. That is, every tree has an individuality, by which it 
dilTers from all other trees, and this individuality may consist (pute as 
much in variation in ])roductivcness as in any other character. F'urther- 
more, it is well established that scions or buds tend to i)eri)etuate the 
features of the ])lant from which they are taken. Scions from a normally 
unproductive or non-hearing tree may he expected to yield less ju'oduc- 
tive ju-oii-eny than those from ludntually productive trees. It is also 
asserted that scions frf)m young unbearing trees, particularly from 
nursery stock, give later hearing trees than those taken from old hear¬ 
ing trees, and there is much reason for believing this to he often true. 
At all events, we cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of care¬ 
ful selection of buds and scions for the propagation of nursery stock. 
Florists know that the choice of a parent plant is a very important con¬ 
sideration in selecting cuttings for the making of Horiferous stock, and 
they are even ])articidar about the i)art of the plant from which these 
cuttings shall be taken. Expeiienced grafters always prefer to take 
scions from habitually ])rolific trees, and they even exercise a choice 
between the branches of the same tree, always avoiding water-sprouts 
and lu’eferring the hard well-rii)ened wood from the upper part of the 
tree. All scientific considerations commend these practices, for we are 
hound to look upon every branch as in some sense a distinct individual, 
since it is unlike every other branch and it is capable of living or of 
being propagated when severed from the colony of the tree to which it 
belongs. 1 will not say that the barrenness of our orchards is ever due 
to an unwise selection of scions or buds by which they were jiropagated. 
but 1 am so well satisfied in my own mind that such may be true that, 
in an apple orchard which 1 am now planting, I am expecting to top- 
work all the trees from trees which I know to have been jiroductive. 
It would certainly be a good and safe stroke of business for a nursery¬ 
man to select his scions, so far as possible, from trees of known excel¬ 
lence and prolificacy, and to let the fact be known. 
CONSERVATION OF MOISTURE. 
At the conclusion of his paper, Professor Bailey spoke 
extemporaneously on the importance of the use of water 
and the conservation of moisture in the growth of nur¬ 
sery stock. “ Last year,” said he, “ we had an experience 
with drouth. I am asked what percentage of phosphoric 
acid or of nitrogen is needed for plant growth. What is 
needed is not nitrogen so much as water. I am convinced 
that nurserymen and horticulturists overlook the import¬ 
ance of water. Your fertilizer might as well be in the 
bags as in the ground if there is not sufficient water to 
put it into solution. The more commercial fertilizer you 
put on land the more you must do to get the full value. 
Especially is this true on nursery plantations. Young 
stock is composed of from 40 to 60 per cent, water. Now 
a great deal of the water that falls in rain is wasted. Dur¬ 
ing a year from three to four feet of water falls in New 
York State. It is found that cropping land makes it poor. 
What is virgin land? Why, it is land that for millions of 
years has grown hundreds of forest trees. That is the 
nearest to virgin land. You think that nursery stock 
takes a great deal of plant food from the soil. It would 
take 3,000 years to exhaust the potash and 1,500 years to 
exhaust the phosphoric acid. Yet you find you cannot 
get two good crops from the same land. Nursery trees 
take more nitrogen than potash or phosphoric acid, in 
proportion, than other crops. There is practically no 
limit to the amount of nitrogen in the air, yet one crop 
from a piece of land is all that you get. One trouble i.s 
lack of moisture. In order to procure desirable and sale¬ 
able stock it is necessary to force the growth of the young 
trees, so more moisture is needed than in the case of the 
natural growth of a young tree. 
“The treatment of the soil with regard to moisture,” 
said Professor Bailey, “ is very important. By the rolling 
of corn land at the wrong time much moisture is lost. No 
machine in my opinion i.s so complicated as the field 
roller. None requires so much skill in its use. The im¬ 
portance of a mulch on ground is overlooked. The capa¬ 
city of a soil to retain water increases with increasing fine¬ 
ness of the particles. What is needed is a mulch of some 
kind, cut grass, manure or even fine soil, to prevent the 
escape by evaporation of the moisture in the ground be¬ 
neath. By the unwise planting of extra crops in our 
orchards and the treatment of the land surrounding the 
trees we draw out the moisture more completely than if 
we used a windmill and pump. And then we complain that 
our orchards do not bear. They ought not to bear. The 
worst weed in the orchard is the orchard tree. The worst 
weed in the corn field is the corn. What we need is a 
thinning out of crops. The Russian thistle may prove a 
blessing; so also the apple scab, by taking the place of too 
much crop or thinning where the horticulturist has 
neglected his duty.” 
CULTURE OF THE PEACH. 
“ The Culture of the Peach ” was the subject of a paper 
allotted to Hon. N. H. Albaugh. Mr. Albaugh spoke 
entertainingly upon the subject with which he is so well 
acquainted. “Commercial peach orcharding in this lati¬ 
tude,” said he, “ is too uncertain. So we go into such 
regions where we can be reasonably sure of a crop. We 
do not plant a large nursery tree nor one in dormant bud, 
but we find the best success with a one-half inch, three 
foot tree with all the side branches off. The great enemy 
of the peach in large commercial planting is the peach 
borer. We have tried all remedies and find only one 
specific—a boy with a well sharpened wire. After a year 
or two pinching in or pruning is needed. Peach trees in 
the North make a much stronger growth than those in 
the South. We have the head within 2 1-2 feet of the 
ground. We cultivate with a disc harrow. We do not 
expect much of a crop under the fourth year. In the 
northern states are several dozen cities with populations 
of 100,000 or more filled with mouths that are watering 
for the peach and that will have it. Whether we select 
the regions along the lakes, the Ohio river, the Kentucky 
hills or on the broad plains of the West there will always 
be a fair prospect for remuneration in planting the best 
class of orchards, remembering that as long as there are 
mouths and stomachs there will be a demand for good 
palatable fruit.” 
Mr. Albaugh said his company had planted 6,000 acres 
of Elberta which is hardy and bears young. Mountain 
Rose, Crawford, Stump and Old Mi.xon were recommended. 
