142 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
THE com IS G APPLE . 
Suggestions Arising From the Offer of the Minnesota Society — 
Professor Hansen Says American and Russian Strains Will Be 
Combined in the Apple for the Northwest— Horticultural 
Veterans May Even Now Have the Nucleus — 
They Are Raising Seedlings. 
The recent offer of the Minnesota State Horticultural 
Society of a premium of one thousand dollars to any one who 
can produce a variety of apple equal to Duchess in hardiness, 
the Wealthy in size, appearance and quality, and the Malinda 
in keeping capacity, has no doubt stimulated effort in the line 
of raising seedlings and of bringing to light old seedling 
trees now perhaps growing in some out-of-the-way place, 
neglected and in heavy sod, says Prof. N. E. Han¬ 
sen, Brookings, S. D., in Minnesota Horticulturist. If any 
one knew positively just how to produce such an apple, it is 
very likely that he would not give his secret to the world until 
his seedling apple had secured the prize. But as it is so 
delightfully uncertain a subject, and no one knows just how to 
produce the variety desired, it will perhaps be of interest to 
discuss some of the various methods that will be worth trying. 
The writer has several hundred candidates for the honor, now 
one and two years old. 
The coming apple for the Northwest, so earnestly sought by 
all, will probably have in its make-up the blood of both Ameri¬ 
can and Russian apples, and, probibly, the Siberian crabs. 
The further north we go, the more the Russian blood will be 
in the ascendancy. In all our discussions about American 
apples, let us not forget that all were originally imported from 
West or East Europe. The only true American apple is the 
wild crab. 
The coming apple will very likely be raised from seed saved 
in the orchard of some one of our horticultural veterans, such 
as C. G. Patten, J. S. Harris, E. H. S. Dartt or R. P. Speer, 
where a large number of varieties of both races are grown. In 
his experimental orchard Mr. Dartt, if I remember rightly, has 
industriously gathered together some 800 grafted varieties, be¬ 
sides several hundred seedlings of his own. Hives of bees 
kept in such an orchard would greatly help in the work. The 
pedigree of the seedlings would be unknown at least in part, 
but the apple, if hardy, would manage to get along very well 
without any. 
My inventory of seedlings this fall, raised on the grounds at 
Brookings during the last two years, shows over 27,000 seed¬ 
lings of native fruits. As to methods, all small lots of seeds 
are now sown in flats and transplanted into beds in the gar¬ 
den as soon as large enough to handle. It is still better to 
transplant into 4 -inch pots and later to the field. Not a seed 
is lost with proper care, and the festive and ubiquitous cut¬ 
worm is robbed of his prey. Larger lots are sown in beds or 
nursery rows. Transplanting the first season is the common 
method of European nurseries, and I find here that it gives a 
finely branched system of roots. The root-pinching at time of 
transplanting breaks up the tap-root. A large lot of Pyrus 
baccata seedlings was raised this season in this way. Owing 
to very dry weather immediately after transplanting they were 
checked in growth, but they are well rooted. To hasten bear¬ 
ing, buds can be cut the second or even the first summer and 
budded into the top of a bearing tree. The first year’s top 
can also be used as a scion for top-grafting. German writers 
say that if a seedling is grafted with itself, that is, the scions 
cut off and grafted right back on to the same tree, it will bear 
earlier than if left alone. This method I have never tried. 
Nursery propagation is a necessary test for hardiness. A 
very large number of seedlings of the apple, which has been 
brought to public notice in the past generation in the North¬ 
west because of the hardiness of the original tree, have quickly 
dropped out of sight again because the trees failed under pro¬ 
pagation in the nursery. Our occasional test winters, such as 
those of 1872 - 73 , 1884 - 85 , and 1898 - 99 , must be taken into 
account. Some trees thrive when young, but succumb when 
they come into bearing. Hence the true value of any seedling 
can only be determined when it has come into bearing as a 
grafted or budded tree and has passed safely through a test 
winter. So do not be too enthusiastic over any new seedling 
until it has been propagated and put into orchard. 
A WELCOME VISITOR. 
Here it is ! The praying mantis. Nota bene, Mantis relig- 
iosa. Imported by a nurseryman; yet not a pest! Devil-horse, 
camel-cricket, mule-killer, rear-horse, call it what you will—it 
is a beneficial insect and it was imported by nurserymen on 
stock. It eats grasshoppers and other pernicious insects and 
does not eat leaves, roots, buds or bark. Entomologists say 
that it is not only harmless, but that it is beneficial. It was 
probably imported from Europe on stock by Irving Rouse and 
Thomas Meehan & Sons. It only remains to be proved that 
it will eat and in a short time exterminate the San Jose scale. 
Entomological journals, please copy. 
TRADE LIVELY IN TEXAS. 
John Watson, business manager of the Rosedale Nurseries, 
Brenham, Tex., writes: “Things are simply humming down 
here. You have the big majorities up there but not all the 
prosperity. Outside the storm-swept section, a small section 
along the coast, and barring the boll-weevil pest in a few 
counties, this state is in better financial condition than for 
twenty years. North Texas is prosperous; West Texas is 
more than prosperous, and better times were never seen. We 
nurserymen are sawing wood and selling trees. The nursery 
interests in our state are of importance and trade is excellent. 
We are all going to have money this year, and three meals a 
day for some time.” 
