THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
67 
influence on the growth of the top. It may modify its 
size, as when pears are grafted on quince, or apples on 
Paradise roots. It may also influence the general vigor 
and productiveness of the tree. Rarely does it affect 
materially the season of ripening or the character of the 
fruit. Furthermore, these seedlings vary greatly not only 
in vigor, but also in susceptibility to disease and in hardi¬ 
ness. A large percentage of the cases of collar rot, due 
to (ire blight, arise from infection that started on suscep¬ 
tible seedling roots, and spread to the part of the tree 
above the graft. In those parts of the north where root 
winter killing is a problem the variation in the hardiness 
of seeding roots is a matter of serious concern. 
Heretofore, it has been quite generally believed that the 
root and top remain entirely distinct; that the cion will 
grow into the same kind of tree, aside from the influ¬ 
ence of dwarfing stock, regardless of the seedling root 
on which it is grafted. Recent experiments seem to show, 
however, that a large percentage of the variation in or¬ 
chards and the lack of uniform production is due to the 
influence of these variable and unpredictable seedlings. 
So long as we depend on miscellaneous French crab and 
cider mill seedlings for apple rootstocks, and on canning 
factory pits, just so long may we expect marked varia¬ 
tion in the nursery row and in the orchard. 
Selected Seedlings. There are three possible ways of 
eliminating or reducing the loss due to variation in root¬ 
stocks; by growing them only from certain varieties 
that are found to produce the most uniform seedlings, by 
propagating rootstocks vegetatively and by growing va¬ 
rieties on their own roots. Since it may be cheaper to 
raise certain root-stocks from seed than any other way, 
it is possible that seedlings will continue to be used for 
some fruits. If so, the source of the seed should receive 
more attention. In the fruit stock work of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, seedlings were raised 
in quantity from twenty-five American varieties and 
twenty varieties of French Crab cider apples. The high¬ 
est percentage of clean straight seedlings were produced 
from Tolman and McIntosh seed, but it does not neces¬ 
sarily follow that these would be superior as rootstocks. 
Even at best the variation among the seedlings of selected 
parents would still be considerable, particularly if the 
orchard were open to cross-pollination. The way to im¬ 
provement lies not in attempting to reduce the variation 
of seedlings, but in eliminating this disturbing factor 
altogether, either by own rooting or the vegetative pro¬ 
pagation of stocks. 
Own-rooted Trees. If all the trees in a Baldwin or¬ 
chard were Baldwin, in root as well as in branch, surely 
the performance record of the trees in that orchard would 
be more uniform than if they were on seedling roots. 
If all varieties of tree fruits could be as readily propa¬ 
gated by hardwood cuttings as the currant or the grape, 
part of the problem of how to secure more uniform fruit 
trees would be solved. The possibility of propagating 
varieties by means of cuttings is now receiving much at¬ 
tention. It is not a new proposition by any means. In 
Europe, certain varieties of apples have been propagated 
by cuttings since long before the seventeenth century. 
Large branches several years old are cut from a full 
grown tree and stuck into the ground during the months 
of October and November. These are preferably from a 
tree that has the branches covered with a large number 
of swellings or excrescences, which may be the serial 
form of crown gall. In Ireland these are called “she 
trees.” The cut is made just below one of these burr- 
knots, from which the roots usually arise. In the humid 
and moderate climate of England, such branches root 
readily and will bear apples the following year, if al¬ 
lowed. This method is not usually successful with the 
stone fruits. 
In this country, also, the rooting of fruit tree cuttings 
is not unknown. The late T. V. Munson, of Texas, re¬ 
ported. “I have often had apple and even peach switches, 
cut from trees in February and stuck into very sandy 
ground for label sticks in the nursery row. take root 
and grow.” Kieffer and Le Conte pears, Satsuma, Mari¬ 
anna and other plums. Northern Spy apples and some 
other varieties have been propagated commercially in 
the South by hardwood cuttings. The mild climate of the 
southern states, and especially of the Gulf states, seems 
to be particularly favorable to propagation by cutting. 
At the South Carolina Experiment Station practically all 
varieties of apples and pears are multiplied readily by 
hardwood cuttings set out of doors late in the fall. They 
form roots during the winter and make a strong tree in 
one or two years. 
In the North efforts to propagate apples by means of 
hardwood stem cuttings of the current season’s growth 
have thus far yielded indifferent results. Shaw, of the 
Massachusetts Experiment Station, after repeated efforts, 
failed to secure a sufficient percentage of any variety 
to make the method practicable. Ringing the shoot be¬ 
fore it is cut. and splitting the end of the cutting, may 
encourage the emission of roots somewhat. It should be 
possible by using greenhouses or steam-heated hot beds 
to create in the North conditions that approximate those 
in the South where the cuttings root readily, but would 
it pay? May there not be a possibility that the propaga¬ 
tion of some of the trees for Northern orchards will even¬ 
tually be transferred to the South, where the warm, moist 
climate is more favorable for vegetative propagation? 
One form of own-rooting has long been practiced in 
the North; that is, the long cion-piece root graft, which 
is planted several inches deep so that roots may form 
above the point of union. After a few years the nurse 
root may be an insignificant part of the root system of 
such a tree; sometimes it is removed entirely when the 
tree is planted in the orchard. This method has found 
favor in the north central states, where roots of known 
hardiness are desirable. Varieties differ in their ability 
to form cion roots. Shaw found the percentage to vary 
from about 85 per cent., with Fameuse, Primate and Ar¬ 
kansas, to three per cent, with Yellow Bellflower and 
Red Canada. Girdling the graft by winding a copper 
wire tightly around it. encourages the formation of cion 
roots. Own-rooted trees can be multiplied also by means 
of root cuttings and layers. 
It is possible that the propagation of certain varieties 
of tree fruits by means of hardwood cuttings will be¬ 
come an established nursery practice in the near future. 
Propagation by cuttings may have certain advantages 
other than that of cheapness. Some varieties of apple, 
