THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN* 
11 
APPLE STOCKS IIS ISORTH . 
For Best Results a Root Must Be l/sed Vigorous Enough to 
Strike Out Strongly the First Season After 
Grafting — Pyrus Baccata. 
Following is a digest of a paper read before the Minnesota 
Horticultural Society, by Roy Underwood, secretary of the 
Jewell Nursery Co., Lake City, Minn. 
“Here in the North it has come to be a pretty generally 
accepted fact that in an Apple tree a hardy root is quite as 
important as an early ripening tendency of wood and a tough 
quality of bark. A chain is only as strong as its weakest 
link, to follow the old adage, and an orchard tree that may 
be perfectly hardy above ground, but that is grafted on a 
root of inferior hardness, is a successful tree only so long as 
its root withstands the extremes of our climate. Such a 
tree will thrive until it meets with one of our test Winters, 
accompanied by bare ground and protracted zero weather; 
then, unless one is philosophical enough to inquire below the 
surface of things, he is apt to condemn the variety when in 
fact he ought to ‘roast’ the tree man. 
“The recent agitation that has arisen here in the West 
over the question of using Pyrus Baccata stocks to obtain 
hardier and better trees has had its due effect among our 
local growers, but the present scarcity of the seed makes it 
yet impossible to conduct experiments on an extended scale. 
But the effect has not been lost, as it has brought to light for 
discussion and experiment the comparative merits of true 
Crab seed and that of the commercial Apple. Many of our 
hardy Crabs and hybrids, such as the Minnesota, Orange, 
Early Strawberry, etc., have been pressed into service, and 
with many of them, notably the stock produced from the 
seeds of the Orange, a superiority in point of vigor has been 
found to characterize both the root and the top of the tree 
when grafted. We have recently experimented quite exten¬ 
sively with stocks from the Siberian Crab, which is nearly 
akin to the Pyrus Baccata; so far as we have yet been able to 
determine, it has shown no marked superiority over some of 
the other more common Crabs, but we do not feel that its 
test has yet been of sufficient duration to give a safe basis for 
judgment. Its small size, regular bearing, and a generally 
full quota of seed would make it a good variety for practical 
purposes.. 
“From the nurseryman’s standpoint, there is one thing of 
which we feel certain; for best results in the North a root 
must be used that is vigorous enough to strike out strongly 
the first season after it is grafted. That is perhaps the most 
critical time in the life of the young tree, for if it is feeble on the 
approach of its first Winter, it is apt to come out in the Spring 
with only enough vitality to dally through its second Summer, 
or succumb altogether. If this premise is correct the obvious 
conclusion is, that to determine the best Apple stock for the 
northern grower we should first assemble the hardiest stocks 
on our list, and then select from these, the one showing the 
greatest amount of vital energy. In this way we may some 
day stumble on a stock of which we may conscientiously say, 
“there is none better.’” 
Uong and Short. 
Peach trees are offered bv C. W. Stuart & Co., Newark, N. Y. 
For Pear trees apply to South St. Louis Nurseries, St. Louis, Mo. 
Strawberry plants are a specialty with H. W. Henry, La Porte, Ind. 
Nurserymen’s grafting knives are made by Maher & Grosh Co 
Toledo, O. 
Two good grafters are wanted by the Stuart Pecan Co., Ocean 
Springs, Miss. 
Deming’s sprayers, made at Salem, O., are declared satisfactory for 
every purpose. 
A special list is announced in this issue by the Fraser Nurserv, 
Huntsville, Ala. 
Hardy trees and shrubs are a specialty with C. Eschweiler, Ouden- 
bosch, Holland. 
Greenhouse material of all kinds is provided by S. Jacobs & Sons, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 
H. M. Simpson & Sons, Vincennes, Ind., has a special Spring list in 
another column. 
W. T. Hood & Co., Richmond, Va., offer in another column a surplus 
list for Spring, 1904. 
Evergreen and forest tree seedlings are specialties with R. Douglas’ 
Sons, Waukegan, Ill. 
The new blue conifera Retinispora Sanderi may be obtained of Henry 
A. Dreer, Philadelphia. 
Youngers & Co., Geneva, Neb., has a surplus of Apple trees, root 
grafts and forest seedlings. 
At Geneva, N. Y., is a fine stock at low prices offered by Whiting 
Nursery Co., Boston, Mass. 
Fruit and ornamental stock and the Common Sense cultivator are 
offered by George Peters & Co.. Troy, 0. 
The largest nurseries in Tennessee are those of the Southern Nursery 
Co., which has 500 acres in nursery stock. 
North Carolina Mountain natural Peach seed may be obtained of 
J. Van Lindley Nursery Co., Pomona, N. C. 
A mid-winter bargain offer is made in another column by the 
Chattanooga Nurseries, Chattanooga, Tenn. 
August Rolker & Sons, 31 Barclay Street, New York, have Raffia 
fibre and nursery stocks, fruit and tree seeds. 
Apple and Pear are ready, in surplus stock, for Spring shipment 
from Pioneer Nurseries Co., Salt Lake City, Utah. 
The Phoenix Nursery Co., Bloomington, Ill., has a complete line of 
fruit and ornamental nursery stock for Spring shipment. 
Elberta June bud Peach trees, 200,000, are offered for immediate 
shipment by Chickamauga nurseries, Chattanooga, Tenn. 
A Caldwell water tank 'will hold everything put into it and last a 
lifetime. It is made by the W. E. Caldwell Co., Louisville, Ivy- 
Apple, Standard Pear, Dwarf Pear, Cherries, Plums, Peach, Grapes, 
small fruits and ornamentals are offered by A. Willis, Ottawa, Kan. 
W. B. Cole, Painesville, O., believes that his prices will interest 
nurserymen. He offers Deutzia and Privet at less than cost of imported 
plants. 
Myrobolan Plum stocks and a choice list for nurserymen are attrac¬ 
tions offered in another column by Thomas Meehan & Sons, Inc., 
Dreshertown, Pa. 
Special attention is called to the stock of the Storrs & Harrison Co., 
Painesville, O., for Spring of 1904—Apples, Pears, Cherries, Plums 
and Peaches; Grape vines, roses, shrubs and importations from Hol¬ 
land, and descriptive catalogue is sent free to the trade. 
Among recent publications received are the following: “Cherries 
and Cherry Growing in Iowa,” Ames, Iowa; U. S. Experiment Station 
Record, Washington, D. C.; “Should Apples Be Thinned,” Geneva, 
N. Y.; “The Apple in Cold Storage,” U. S. Department of Agriculture; 
catalogues of the Willis Nurseries, Ottawa, Ivan.; California Rose Co., 
Los Angeles, Cal.; Mt. Arbor Nurseries, Shenandoah, la.; Pioneer 
Nurseries Co., Salt Lake City, Utah; Ottolander & Hooftman, Boskoop, 
Holland. 
