i8o 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
layers of board, one layer making right angles with the 
other. Between these two layers of board there is ordinary 
tar paper. There is a 6 in. space between the double outer 
wall, and the single inner one. This space is filled with saw¬ 
dust. The inner wall is made out of first class flooring, which 
makes the inner compartment air-tight. The inner compart¬ 
ment is covered with tin in order to keep the inner wall from 
rotting, and it also helps to keep the box air-tight. There are 
three sections in the inner compartment. The middle section 
is used only for ice, while the other two are used for the storing 
of the bud sticks. The edges of the lid are covered with 
canvas so as to make the whole box air-tight. The lid con¬ 
sists of four layers of board between which there is no space. 
the ice box made almost a perfect stand, while those kept in 
the bucket only gave a partial stand. These buds were cut 
from the same trees and budded at the same time and on the 
same kind of seedlings in adjoining rows. We also observed 
that the iced buds seemed to knit faster to the seedling than 
the others. So in 1911, our entire budding of several millions 
of peach, apple, pear, plum and cherry trees was handled in 
this way with remarkable success. The buds came through 
the winter in prime condition, so the same method was used 
for handling the buds in 1912, during which season we budded 
over five millions of fruit sticks. At the present writing the 
buds which were put in during the summer of 1912 are show¬ 
ing almost a perfect stand. With these two years’ experience 
The ice box is kept on a truck so that it can be carried from 
one block of seedlings to another. The box must be kept 
locked so that the budders will not disturb the contents. It 
is best to let only one man have the key and allow him to 
distribute the various varieties of buds to the budders. This 
one man is able to control the situation of distributing small 
quantities of buds to a gang of over a hundred men and boys 
as they need them. 
In 1910 we budded about 3,500,000 of peach which only 
produced us about 500,000 merchantable trees. The 
budding was in charge of an old, experienced man, but we 
found his methods of handling buds impracticable, hence we 
were forced to adapt something different. At this point is 
where the writer was given authority to take charge of the 
budding. He, alone, conceived the idea of using a refrigera¬ 
tor box filled with ice in order that buds might be kept cool 
and in a dormant condition. This method has been a success 
from the very beginning and has saved our firm several 
thousands of dollars. 
Our first experience in using ice was in 1910 with Bartlett 
pear buds, with the result that the buds which were used in 
of handling buds on a large scale, using the “ice box’’ method, 
and the fact that we have had the best stand of buds we have 
ever had during our quarter of a century’s experience in the 
nursery business, I take this opportunity of giving you our 
experience in handling buds through the “Ice Box’’ method. 
Enclosed I hand you my check for ^i.oo for renewal of my subscrip¬ 
tion to the National Nurseryman. 
Yes, the Nurseryman meets with my approval. It has been 
greatly improved recently. 
Yours respectfully, 
John W. Maher. 
I am well pleased with the National Nurseryman and shall con¬ 
tinue to take it. It is a valuable magazine to all nurserymen. 
I am, yours truly, 
J. R. Jones, 
Forest Home Nurseries, 
Dill Rapids, S. D. 
F. E. Williams of the Dansville Nursery Co., DansviUe, N. Y., 
says: “We value your publication—appreciate the April number 
greatly.’’ 
