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THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
ROOT PRUNING AGAIN . 
Results of Tests of the Stringfellow Theory In a Northern .Climate 
— Wide Difference in Varieties - Peach, Pear and Apple 
Trees, Closely Root Pruned, Made Fine Growth 
— The Treatment Not Favorable to Cherry. 
In our earlier days we were taught that it was one of the 
essential requirements to success in transplanting trees to save 
all of the roots possible so that the feeding capacity of the tree 
might not be lessened more than was absolutely necessary, 
says Professor James Troop, of Indiana, in American Agricul¬ 
turist. The subject of plant physiology was but little under¬ 
stood. 1 he ability of the plant to form new tissues where 
needed and to adapt itself to surrounding conditions generally 
had not been studied to any great extent Soon after Mr. 
Stringfellow of Texas made public his theories concerning 
close root pruning, a few years ago, a number of experiments 
were immediately set in motion with the view of testing the 
truth or falsity of these theories, which, in some respects, were 
in direct conflict with the teachings of Downing and other 
noted horticulturists. The results of some of these experiments 
have already been published, but the most of them have been 
carried on in the South where the conditions are different 
from those in the North. In a recent illustrated bulletin from 
the Georgia experiment station the subject is set forth in con¬ 
siderable detail, giving the results of a series of experiments, 
mostly with the peach, which cannot help being very useful to 
the Southern fruit growers at least. 
In order to test this question for a more northern climate I 
began some experiments in the spring of 1896 by securing 
from the nursery four trees, as uniform in growth as possible 
of each of the following specimens and varieties: German 
prune. Early Richmond cherry, Flemish Beauty pear (stand¬ 
ard), Duchess pear (dwarf), St. John peach and Orange quince. 
I wo trees each of these varitries were pruned so that not more 
than an inch or two of the roots remained and the tops were 
cut back as shown in the illustrations. The other two were 
planted as they came from the nursery, except all ragged, 
broken ends of the roots were cut off. The trees were photo¬ 
graphed before planting and again after they had grown a sin¬ 
gle season. The result of this experiment showed a wide 
difference in the ability of different varieties to adapt them¬ 
selves to this severe method of pruning. For example, the 
peach began to throw out its feeding roots almost immediately, 
and while two of the trees died from other causes, the one 
that remained made a magnificent top and root system as well. 
1'he dwarf pear made perhaps the finest root growth of any. 
Starting in the spring with nothing but a bare stub, at the end 
of the season there was a complete mass of fine feeding roots, 
which would have been able, another season, to push the top 
along at a rapid rate. The standard pear made a fairly good 
growth, as did also the German prune, but the Early Richmond 
cherries did not seem to take kindly to the harsh treatment, 
and one of them died, while the other barely made enough 
roots to sustain life. The quince made no growth at all, which 
was probably due to other causes than the close pruning. 
It will be seen that these trees were all set out in the spring. 
I am of the opinion that the results would have been more 
favorable to the system of pruning if they had been set out in 
the fall, as the cut surfaces would then have had time to form 
the callus and be ready to send out their roots as soon as 
spring opened. In the autumn of 1896, two dozen Wealthy 
apple trees, three years old, were prepared in a similar manner 
by close pruning each alternate tree. After growing two sea¬ 
sons these were taken up, and in almost every case a fine root 
system was found on the closely pruned trees; in fact, more of 
the fine, feeding roots than were found upon the others. 
There is one point, however, which Mr. Stringfellow claims 
to be in favor of his close pruned trees, the truth of which was 
not demonstrated by my experiments. He claims that a clos 
pruned tree will send its roots down deep, almost perpendicu¬ 
lar, into the subsoil and so anchor the tree more firmly to its 
place, while the tree not pruned will have most of its roots 
near the surface. My experiments show that nature asserts 
herself here as well as elsewhere. Some trees are naturally 
deep-rooted, while others are shallow, and it makes but very 
little difference so far as that is concerned, whether they are 
close pruned or not. It depends more upon the nature of the 
variety than upon the pruning. 
NOVA SCOTIA ORCHARDS. 
A combination of a good price and a fair yield has served to 
reawaken the interest in orcharding which the extremely low 
apple prices of 1896 had slightly checked, says a correspon¬ 
dent of the Country Gentleman, and the prospect is that the 
coming spring will witness the largest increase in the acreage 
of orchards ever seen in the province. Not only will the 
orchardists in the Annapolis Valley add to their plantations, 
but men in other and less favored parts of the province are 
realizing the fact that orchards offer a source of cash revenue 
not to be equalled by the same extent of land devoted to any 
other crop. In Pictou county, for example, which heretofore 
has not gone extensively into any fruit except plums, the 
farmers are taking an active part in the growing of apples, and 
whole districts may be found where almost every farmer is 
planning to set from 50 to 500 apple trees the coming season. 
The high price of nursery stock, caused by the increased 
demand and by the latv prohibiting the importation of nursery 
stock from the United States, will doubtless prevent many 
from setting as many Trees as they otherwise would; but the 
general sentiment seems to be that even at $15 to $25 per hun¬ 
dred (the price of apple trees here in Nova Scotia), there is 
money in apple orchards. 
Xong anb Short. 
A nursery established eighteen years ago, at Marcus, la., is for rent. 
A first class foreman who understands handling trees is wanted by 
•J. G. Harrison & Sons* Berlin, Md. 
Japanese nursery stock, seeds, etc., may be procured of Suzuki & 
Iida, 11 Broadway, N. Y. Their nurseries are at Yokohama, Japan. 
French nursery stocks, specially grown for the American trade, may 
be obtained of E. T. Dickinson & Co.. 1 Broadway, New York. Fruit 
tree seedlings and ornamentals ; pear and crab-apple seed. 
Present prices are lower than fall prices will probably be, and the 
Jackson & Perkins Co., Newark, N. Y., who claim to be the largest 
growers of clematis in the world, offer special inducements in this line 
of stock ; also roses, and a general line of nursery stock. 
