THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
150 
DIVISION OF POMOLOGY. 
Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson presents the follow¬ 
ing report of the chief of the Division of Pomology for 1897: 
Descriptions of more than 550 fruits have been added to the 
files of the division during the year, and 175 water-color paint¬ 
ings, roo photographic negatives and about 200 wax models of 
fruits have been made. 
Large sets of fig cuttings from the collection furnished to 
this department in 1894 by the Royal Horticultural Society of 
England, have been placed in 10 of the southern states for 
testing. Small trees of Corsican citron have been placed 
with more than 100 fruit growers in California and Florida, 
and 350 seedling trees of Chinese persimmon, grown from 
seeds obtained from Pekin, were distributed to growers who 
gave them a careful test. Scions of 18 varieties of apples of 
New Zealand and Australian origin, received through the kind¬ 
ness of the pomologist of New Zealand, were distributed in 
June, 1897, to a number of growers for testing. Seeds of the 
“ rough lemon ” of Jamaica, valued in that island as a stock for 
orange trees, were also distributed. 
Work on the descriptive card catalogue of fruits has been 
continued during the year, and the usefulness of the catalogue 
as a work of reference has been fully demonstrated. 
The nursery period of a comparative test of methods of root 
grafting the apple, was completed during the year. The trees 
resulting from it were distribtrted to experiment stations and 
private planters in several states, where they can be kept under 
observation during the orchard period, to determine the effect 
of the method of propagation upon vigor, productiveness and 
longevity. 
In addition to work already under way, it is important that 
a systematic effort in the preparing of maps which will show 
the areas where the principal fruits grown in the country are 
capable of being commercially produced shall be begun, and 
that certain fruit-producing species, which are believed to be 
adapted to cultivation here, either as stocks or for their fruit, 
shall be introduced from foreign countries. 
ROOT-GRAFTING THE APPLE. 
C. H. Andrews of the Minnesota School of Agriculture, gives 
the following directions for root-grafting the apple, in the 
Minnesota Horticulturist: 
The object of root-grafting the apple is to propagate varieties 
true to name, and to get the union of the cion and the stock 
under the ground, where it will be somewhat protected. 
The stocks used for root-grafing are seedlings, either one or 
two years old, the age depending on the size required for the 
cions. The seedlings for this purpose are best grown on a 
rich, moist, sandy soil, so as to get a straight, vigorous growth. 
In autumn, the seedlings are dug and packed in sawdust in a 
cold cellar, where they remain until wanted for grafting. 
The cions must be wood of the previous season’s growth, and 
should be cut late in autumn when the temperature is above 
freezing and, after being labeled, packed in sawdust in a cool 
place. 
Grafting may be done any time during the winter. A cion 
five or six inches long is cut off at one end in an oblique direc¬ 
tion making the cut surface about an inch or so long, then a 
tongue is made by splitting down across the face of the cut 
about one-third of its length, beginning at a point about that 
far from the end of the cion. A piece of root four or five 
inches long is treated the same way as the cion was, and the 
two are then united, care being taken that the inner or cam¬ 
bium layer of the bark of the cion and the root coincides on 
at least one side of the union. The graft is now wrapped with 
waxed twine, or wax may be spread upon cloth or paper, which 
is then cut into strips and firmly wrapped around the union, 
also above and below it, so as to exclude all air. The latter 
method keeps the graft from drying out and does not cut into 
the bark after the plant grows. The grafts are packed in 
boxes in a mixture of sand and sawdust, and are kept until 
planting time in a cold cellar to callous over and grow together. 
The land where they are to be set should be finely pulverized 
and rolled or planked to level the surface. As soon as there 
is no danger of a severe frost, the grafts may be planted. They 
are usually put six or eight inches apart in rows three or three 
and one-half feet apart, running the rows north and south. All 
sprouts that may have started from the root should be rubbed 
off. In planting, the earth must be packed very firmly around 
the graft, which ought to be set deep enough so that only one 
or two buds will show after the ground has settled. 
Cultivation should be frequent in order to kill the weeds 
and to keep a dust blanket on the soil, but it should not be 
continued later than the tenth or the middle of July, as it is 
likely to induce a late fall growth than cannot be ripened up. 
The grafts require no pruning the first year. Early in the 
spring of the second season, they are cut back to one or two 
buds, and a strong, straight shoot is sent up, which is pruned 
later to make it head properly. The third season, the pruning 
done is merely enough to keep the tree in proper shape. 
The growth the trees make depends a good deal on the soil, 
the season and the variety. Yearlings run from one foot or 
less to two feet in height; two year olds, from three to five feet, 
and three year old trees, from five to six feet. These trees 
after the first year develop some roots of their own, and they 
are thus better able than they otherwise would be to withstand 
a rigorous climate. 
SCALE IN KANSAS, 
Professor E. A. Popenoe has been inspecting the nurseries 
of Kansas for San Jose scale and other injurious pests, and 
in writing to the Kansas Farmer regarding his work, he says : 
“ In the course of my inspection of nursery stock, during the 
past two months, I have found nowhere any indication of the 
San Jose scale, but I found in one locality two apple trees 
badly infested with a species that may prove but little less 
dangerous if allowed to gain a foothold in our state. It is so 
nearly like the San Jose sale in most superficial features, ex¬ 
cept that of color, that it would likely be confused with it by 
the casual observer. It is, however, a light gray color, instead 
of a dark dusty gray, as is the San Jose scale. The species I 
found was determined for me by Mr. Pergande, of the United 
States Division of Entomology, as the “ cherry scale ” (Aspidi- 
otus Forbesii), described not long ago in Illinois. The trees 
on which I found this scale were at my suggestion dug out and 
burned, along with others standing near, which might be in¬ 
fested. I examined all surrounding growth very closely, how¬ 
ever, and found, as stated, but two trees infested,” 
