THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
293 
NURSERY STOCK FOR NEW ENGLAND PLANTING 
Prof. F. C. SEARS, Massachusetts Agricultural Colleg 
{Delivered before American Association of Nurserymen, Boston) 
To anyone who has studied the agricultural develop¬ 
ment for the last few years there is I think no more interest¬ 
ing phase of it than the tremendous interest which has 
been shown in the orchard business all through the country. 
We find men from all walks of life buying farms and setting 
orchards. It is alarming really to anyone who is seriously 
interested in the orchard industry to find people so ignorant 
of the fruit growing business as many of these are going 
haphazard into the industry. So far as I know, Mr. J. H. 
Hale is the only man up to date who has had the courage to 
come out and say he thought these people were making a 
mistake. There isn’t any question in my mind that a great 
many people who are going into it ought not to. 
I want to plead guilty as one of the men who have gone 
into orcharding. Professor Waugh and myself five years 
ago became so enthusiastic over the orchard business that 
we thought we couldn’t stand it any longer, so we began 
to plant an orchard. We have some one hundred twenty 
acres set out at the present time, and have found it a very 
interesting venture. Naturally we have had various experi¬ 
ences with nursery stock. 
VARIETY QUESTION ALL IMPORTANT 
I believe the variety question is the all important question 
with the man who is setting an orchard. People who have 
been pushing the orchard industry here in Massachusetts 
have tried to make one point very emphatic, to insist on 
our setting only those varieties which are high in quality. 
We are certain that our section is one of the few that grow 
the highest quality apples, and we think our consumers 
are coming to have somewhat the same view. But we find 
the more discriminating customers here have come around 
to the point where they would rather have an eastern apple 
than a western apple, and while we take off our hats to the 
western men for all they have done for the industry, we can¬ 
not help thinking we have a tremendous advantage in the 
quality of the fruit that can be grown here. 
VARIETIES FOR NEW ENGLAND 
I think our plantings ought to be restricted to those varie¬ 
ties which have been proved by test to be successful here. 
Williams Early, McIntosh, Rhode Island Greening, Bald¬ 
win, and Palmer Greening,—it seems to me those ought to 
be our leaders. I think most emphatically we ought to 
let the western apples alone. 
Another list of varieties I am sure we ought not to plant 
here is that list made up of the more recent popular western 
sorts, like Delicious, King David, and Stayman Winesap. 
They are good apples and all right in their place, but we 
don’t know as yet that Massachusetts is a good place to 
plant them. Then there are Grimes Golden, Spitzenberg, 
Jonathan, and so forth, which can be grown here in certain 
seasons, but are not, one year with another, as satisfactory 
as elsewhere. 
NURSERY STOCK 
There comes up the question of where to buy nursery 
stock, whether in the local nursery or of distant nursery¬ 
men. It is a very general impression that it is very desir¬ 
able to plant trees which have been grown in the immediate 
vicinity of the orchard. I don’t know any theoretical point 
connected with orcharding which seems to me more reason¬ 
able. The theory is perfectly sound, but practically I 
don’t believe there is anything in it. I had some experience 
in Nova Scotia which confimicd my notions on this subject. 
In a series of demonstration orchards, it was found that a 
larger per cent of the trees grown nearby were lost than of 
those from any other section. 
On the other hand, it seems to me there are very definite 
reasons for prefering local nurserymen. First, the stock 
is likely to arrive in fresher condition; second, there is 
less expense; and third, the local nurseryman is apt to feel 
his responsibility a little more than the man at a distance. 
The Question of Pedigreed Stock. It seems to me 
up to the present the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor 
of the fact that there is a marked individuality in fruit trees. 
Some records from the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, 
Can., which I have looked over show a difference of hundreds 
of bushels in the yield of different trees of the same variety 
over a period of ten or fifteen years. 
The only question which remains to be settled is the 
question whether this individuality can be transferred to the 
next generation. 
Dwarf Trees as Fillers in the Orchard. In our 
orchard we have followed altogether the plan of using 
fillers among the permanent trees, which are forty feet 
apart and interplanted both ways.' The dwarf tree will 
lend itself splendidly to that type of plantation. In planta¬ 
tions at the College we have grown Doucin alongside the 
standard, and from indications the dwarfs are considerably 
ahead of the standards as to bearing. We have trees start¬ 
ing their fifth year which bore a good scattering of apples 
last year, while the standards haven’t begun to bear at all. 
Age of Trees to Buy. In our work we have bought 
almost altogether trees one year old. I understand the 
notion favoring the one year trees has been growing very 
remarkably the last two or three years. There are certain 
very definite advantages in the one year tree: (i) The 
cost is decidedly less. (2) The trees are easier to handle. 
(3) They transplant better. (4) It has seemed to me that 
a tree to be marketable at one year must have been thrifty. 
(5) A one year tree allows you to make the head at the 
point you want it. You can’t buy low headed two year 
trees. 
Sizes and Grades. It is the uniform custom among 
nurserymen to raise the price as size increases. Personally, 
I don’t believe that the over large tree is desirable. I be¬ 
lieve the tree around five feet is the ideal tree. 
