Title: Better fruitIdentifier: betterfruit14wash (find matches)Year: [1] (s)Authors: Washington State Apple CommissionSubjects: Fruit-culturePublisher: Hood River, Ore. , Better Fruit Pub. CoContributing Library: New York Botanical Garden, LuEsther T. Mertz LibraryDigitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical GardenView Book Page: Book ViewerAbout This Book: Catalog EntryView All Images: All Images From BookClick here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.Text Appearing Before Image:Page 12 BETTER FRUIT December, 1919 Topworking An Inferior Orchard To Better Varieties THE search for better fruit. What an interesting story might be writ- ten on this subject 1 And how far- reaching it would be in extent of time and space. Let me furnish a very brief cliapter with special reference to top-working poor varieties to better ones. Several years ago I bought a 40-acre tract in Benton County, Ark., just on the borders of Missouri and Oklaho- ma, in the famous Ozark region. Ac- cording to Professor Waugh, Benton County has more apple trees than any other county in the United States. The tract just mentioned had only 13 acres in apples, with five acres in corn, and the balance in hardwood timber or scrubby pasture. The trees are now ten years old, though many of the orig- inal planting doubtless succumbed to neglect or hard usage and were reset at a later date. At the time of pur- chase, some were stunted in growth, but healthy; others sickly and in need of removal; but the majority were in fairly good condition. There were 150 Jonathan and 25 Maiden Blush. The remainder were Ben Davis and Gano. The trees were 28 feet apart each way. The first winter the trees were thor- oughly pruned. In some cases nearly half the top was removed to correct a bad head formation. Trees that did not promise well were taken out and Stayman, Winesap, Jonathan and De- licious reset. Then the plow and har- row were put to work and at the proper season cowpeas were drilled in, followed by rye as a cover crop. Meanwhile all the land was cleared and put in corn except eight acres of the best timber located a deep "draw," where there is a good spring. Four acres in a choice location were planted to peaches. ByO. T.Wyckoff During the next winter we prepared to set an additional five acres, which had been in corn, to apples, and also to top-graft most of the Ben Davis and Gano to Jonathan and Grimes Golden. I made various allcmpts to find an expert grafter, but without success. The nurserymen to whom I appealed and also the experiment stations were of course all busy at that season. At last. Professor Ernest Walker of the Fayetteville (Ark.) Station suggested that I should send Mr. Shird Robert- son, who was caring for my place, in addition to his own adjoining, to Fay- etteville to receive instruction in top- grafting. Mr. Robertson was thorough- ly qualified in orchard work, but had never had experience in grafting. He proved an apt pupil, for after two or three days' instruction and practice, he gained a remarkable success, as shown by the table below: branches being left with the grafts till next season. Experiments were made with stunted trees. In some cases the entire top was removed and the grafts were inserted in the stub. In others they were inserted in the branches close to the stub. In both, the work proved highly successful. The stub grafts grew vigorously, throwing out branches and making a fine head. As an instance, the entire top was re- moved from one tree, the scions being inserted in the branches near the stub or trunk. This tree was grafted on Ajiril 3rd to Grimes Golden. When the photograph was taken on July I6II1, the grafts had made a growth of 30 inches. Others exceeded this growth, bill none made a better head. The trees reset nude 1 fine growth and promise well. In setting this year we used dynamite. The young apple orchard will be in corn for a couple Variety of Tree Grafted. Variety of Scion. No. of Trees Grafted. No. of Grafts. No. of Grafts Failing to Grow. Ben Davis and Gano. Jonatlian Grimes King David Delicious 85 44 11 12 468 216 58 69 none 8 9 5 Totals 4 ic;9 811 22 The Jonathan scions he cut himself from selected trees in my orchard and that of Mr. E. M. Dunn of the same legion. The Grimes scions were from a local nursery, and the King David and Delicious were kindly furnished by Stark Bros. Mr. Robertson began grafting March 19th and ended his work on April 3rd. He attributes his success in part to the fact that he worked only when weather conditions v;ere favorable. He had an assistant to do the waxing. In some cases only part of the tree was grafted this sea- son, but a majority were completely worked over, a few subordinate of years, but in general we practice clean cultivation, followed by cowpeas and a cover crop of rye or a similar treatment. We are giving special attention to all wounds or signs of disease, going over the entire orchard at regular intervals with this sole point in mind and with the proper materials for doing good work. We plan to put the cultivated land into grass or alfalfa, or whatever will give the largest return with the least outlay of time and money, so as to be free as far as possible for or- Continued on page 30. FIBR FRUIT WRAPPERText Appearing After Image:Chemically Treated the Point "Caro"Protects "Caro" from DessiCARE (to dry up) "Caro" Prolongs the Life of Fruit Why? Fruit decomposition starts from a bruise which opens tiny holes and permits the juice to escape and BACTERIA to enter. "Caro" clings closely and dries up the escaping juice. "Caro" ingredients harden the spot, kill the BACTERIA, arrests the decom- position—and thus PROLONGS THE LIFE OF FRUIT. If your fruit is worth shipping it is worth keeping in best condition. Demand "CARO"—Wrap Your Fruit in "CARO"-The Fruit Buyer Knows "CARO" Order from Any Fruit Company or American Sales Agencies Co., 112 Marltet St., San Francisco WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUITNote About ImagesPlease note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.