200 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
tance, difference in development of root systems, or in some 
other character, it seemed advisable for us to give very serious 
attention to the possibility of propagating fruit tree stocks veg- 
etatively. 
Before I discuss this part of our work which is one of the 
most interesting phases of our nursery stock investigations, 1 
want to emphasize that this work is still in the experimental 
stage, but the results we are obtaining are very promising. 
The propagation of apple varieties by hardwood cuttings has 
been attempted a number of times with indifferent success. The 
propagation of many fruit stocks by softwood cuttings is for 
some classes of plants not only possible, but probably commer¬ 
cially practical, the objection being that it requires some special 
equipment and more or less controlled conditions. 
Layering is another possibility, but offers the objection of be¬ 
ing a rather slow way and more or less expensive. In all of 
these operations the method of attack has been to start with a 
part of the plant which normally grows above the ground and 
induce it to send out roots. We have simply reversed this me¬ 
thod and taken the part which is below the ground, that is a 
root cutting, and allowed it to send out shoots from adventit¬ 
ious buds and at the same time develop roots. Our method is 
probably best described as a combination of root cuttings and 
mound layering. It was first tried by us last year at Bell, Md., 
and in a much more intensive way at Bell, South Haven and 
Diamond Springs this year. 
A brief description of the way we handled a lot of 5000 Yak¬ 
ima seedlings may serve to illustrate just what I mean. Prom 
these 5000 seedlings about 50,000 plants have been secured from 
root cuttings and the 5000 seedlings were also retained with 
sufficient roots so they could be planted out. Cuttings were 
made of the tap roots and also from the side roots. These cut¬ 
tings were graded according to position. First the side roots 
were stripped and tied into bundles, probably 100 roots to a 
bundle. The tap roots were tied into bundles of 25 to 50. The 
root cuttings were made with pruning shears, on the tap roots 
using large two-handled shears. One man held the bundles, 
while a second man did the cutting. The cuttings were made 
about three inches in length and were stored separately. The 
following sizes were made: 1st cut tap root, 2nd cut tap root, 
and 3rd cut tap root, and 1st, 2nd and 3rd cut side roots. Each 
cut was kept separate and stored in flats covered with moist 
sawdust and buried in the ground to a depth of about three 
feet. The cuttings were made the last of January and fore part 
of February and were planted in the open at Diamond Springs 
about March 25; at Bell, from March 20th to April 15, and at 
South Haven as late as April 21st. They were planted in a 
vertical position in nursery rows, 4 feet apart, spaced at a dis¬ 
tance of one to two inches in the row and buried to a depth of 
about an inch. Buds started to form and shoots appeared above 
the ground in three weeks’ time. In most cases two to three 
shoots formed on each cutting and in some cases as many as 
ten. As the shoots developed, earth was hilled up around the 
plants and roots formed on the new growth. At Diamond 
Springs these shoots have made a growth large enough so that 
they can be budded now, while at Bell and South Haven, they 
can be budded later. From one row of apple root cuttings of 
1st cut tap roots 50 feet in length I counted 789 shoots. Many 
of these shoots had started to develop roots and the rooted 
plants could be taken off this fall. From a similar row of 2nd 
cut tap roots I counted 619 shoots; from a row of 3rd cuts 316, 
and from a row of 1st cut side, 295 shoots. The latter may not 
be large enough to bud this season, but will give rooted plants 
which can be lined out next spring. The original root cuttings 
are allowed to remain in the ground as we find the second year 
they send out even stronger shoots than the first year. Just 
how many years this process can go on without renewing the 
original stock is something we still have to find out. One great 
advantage of this method of raising stocks is that hand work 
is practically over by the middle of June and after that only 
horse cultivation is necessary. With seedlings, however, sev¬ 
eral hand weedings, as well as hand cultivation will be made 
during July and August. By allowing the original root cuttings 
to remain in place, no planting is necessary the second and 
probably the third or fourth season. Judged from the financial 
angle stocks can be raised in this way at relatively little ex¬ 
pense, but the important significance of this method is that it 
offers a practical way of multiplying any individual tree that 
has outstanding characteristics that make it of value for stock 
purposes. The method applies not only to apple stocks, but also 
has proven equally as efficient a means of propagating Pyrus 
usuriensis, P. calleryana, Myrobalan, St. Julien, Mazzard, Al¬ 
mond, and Sour Orange. The only common fruit-tree stocks 
which we have not been able to handle in a satisfactory way 
by this method are peach and Mahaleb. With Mahaleb we get 
a satisfactory growth from the 1st cut on the tap root, but the 
other cuts did no start well. 
Our next thought was, if stocks can be propagated in this 
way, why not direct propagation of the varieties themselves? 
With apples, we are now experimenting with the possibility of 
propagating more than 60 varieties by root cuttings. We have 
found that with practically all varieties roots develop above the 
graft union. With many of our common varieties, like Northern 
Spy, Baldwin, Gano, Smokehouse, and a number of others, 
about 50% of the trees develop their own roots above the union. 
Cuttings can be made from these roots and varieties actually 
propagated by root cuttings. We are giving a great deal of time 
and study to this method of direct propagation and it is possible 
that our report another year may be devoted almost exclusively 
to this phase of our work. 
The subproject which deals with roses probably takes as 
much time and thought as any* part of our work. As with every 
other phase of nursery activity, there are almost as many ideas 
regarding the best stocks for roses as there are men handling 
them. In our rose stock experiment we are using stocks now 
in use commercially, namely Manetti, canina, Soven Sisters, 
Madame Plantier, Wax Rose, Ragged Robbin, cinnamonea, mul¬ 
tiflora japonica, and rugosa. In addition to these commonly 
grown stocks, we are using a setigera wichuraiana, multiflora 
cathayensis, M. Polyantha, souleana, setigera, rubrifolia, and 
several others. Souleana, setigera and rubrifolia come readily 
from seed, the rest of our stocks from softwood and hardwood 
cuttings. With all our newer stocks, our seedlings and cuttings 
trace back to individual mother plants. One hundred thousand 
softwood cuttings will be put in this summer for our stock 
work. About 10 or 12 hybrid teas will be budded on these 
stocks. A supply of bud wood of each variety is being worked 
up this year, the buds all tracing back to one mother plant. As 
all our bud wood of each variety will trace back to one mother 
plant, and as all our newer stocks all trace back to one plant, 
we believe that the possibility of variation, due to the individ¬ 
ual plant, has been reduced to a minimum. We cannot give you 
any definite information regarding rose stocks, but we believe 
in the rose stock test which is now under way at Bell, and 
which we hope later to repeat in different localities, that we 
have laid the basis for real definite information. 
In conclusion, may I say, that I have attempted today to out¬ 
line the progress we have made in our Nursery Stock Investiga¬ 
tions since we met a year ago. We are not making any recom¬ 
mendations or suggestions regarding any changes in nursery 
practices. We believe, however, that we have several very in¬ 
teresting leads which may eventually pass from the experimen¬ 
tal to the commercial stage and we hope that it will be possible 
to report substantial progress on our work to you at your meet¬ 
ing next year. We appreciate greatly your interest, we need 
your continued interest and support. 
STATE, SECTIONAL AND NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS 
By Paul C. Lindley, Pomona, N. C. 
Read at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Nur¬ 
serymen, Detroit, Mich., June, 1922. 
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: 
A prominent Southern nurseryman was once called a “Moses,” 
but I sincerely trust you will not dub me a “Jeremiah.” 
I stand before you today only because of the insistence of your 
program committee. Almost everyone confuses the two words, 
“Prominent” and “Conspicuous.” Being chairman of your Vigil¬ 
ance Committee has made me conspicuous, not prominent. I feel 
like some more prominent member of our association could dis¬ 
cuss the subject more intelligently. 
First, I will talk to you about, “Why do people laught at us?” 
This can only be corrected by State, National and Sections Asso¬ 
ciations working in harmony. Many of you gentlemen will take 
exception to my remarking that when a nurseryman is intro¬ 
duced, people smile, for our business is one of God’s greatest gifts, 
but they laugh at the way we handle it. I don’t mean we, the 
members of the A. A. N., but as we come under the same classi¬ 
fication as the nurserymen “at large,” it is up to us to clear this 
damaging impression. 
“M. T. Nutt” says in the National Nurseryman, “Why all this 
holier than thou stuff at every gathering of nurserymen ” But 
evidently he did not know that the beginning of the Lovejoy 
articles was an accusation that cut-back mowing machine peach 
trees were being sold. John Watson did not believe it, never 
heard of it, but it was the truth just the same. 
One of our prominent Eastern nurserymen has been using nur¬ 
sery rhymes in his advertising in a very telling way, but “Nur- 
