Budding

Budding

Fig. 69. How to cut a
Bud from a Scion

If, instead of an apple tree, you were raising a plum or a peach tree, a form of propagation known as budding would be better than grafting. Occasionally budding is also employed for apples, pears, cherries, oranges, and lemons. Budding is done in the following manner. A single bud is cut from the scion and is then inserted under the bark of a one-year-old peach seedling, so that the cambium of the bud and stock may grow together.

Fig. 70. The Steps in Budding

Fig. 71. Sloping
line shows where
to cut tree

Fig. 72.
Lines show where
to trim

And as many other varieties of apples as you wish

And as many other varieties of apples as you wish

And as many other varieties of apples as you wish

If you like you may sometime make the interesting and valuable experiment of grafting scions from various kinds of apple trees on the branches of one stock. In this way you can secure a tree bearing a number of kinds of fruit. You may thus raise the Bonum, Red Astrachan, Winesap, and as many other varieties of apples as you wish, upon one tree. For this experiment, however, you will find it better to resort to cleft grafting, which is illustrated in Fig. 68.

Fig. 68. Cleft Grafting

Luther Burbank, the originator of the Burbank potato, in attempting to find a variety of apple suited to the climate of California, grafted more than five hundred kinds of apple scions on one tree, so that he might watch them side by side and find out which kind was best suited to that state.

Is the best time to graft the tree

Is the best time to graft the tree

Is the best time to graft the tree

The best time to make this graft is when scion and stock are dormant, that is, when they are not in leaf. During the winter, say in February, is the best time to graft the tree. Set the grafted tree away again in damp sand until spring, then plant it in loose, rich soil.

Since all parts growing above the graft will be of the same kind as the scion, while all branches below it will be like the stock, it is well to graft low on the stock or even upon the root itself. The slanting double line in Fig. 66 shows the proper place to cut off for such grafting.

After fitting the parts closely together

After fitting the parts closely together

After fitting the parts closely together

After fitting the parts closely together, bind them with cotton yarn (see Fig. 65) that has been coated with grafting wax. This wax is made of equal parts of tallow, beeswax, and linseed oil. Smear the wax thoroughly over the whole joint, and make sure that the joint is completely air-tight.

Fig. 67. A Completed
Root Graft

Cut the scion and stock as shown in Fig

Cut the scion and stock as shown in Fig

Cut the scion and stock as shown in Fig

Cut the scion and stock as shown in Fig. 64. Join the cut end of the scion to the cut end of the stock. When you join them, notice that under the bark of each there is a thin layer of soft, juicy tissue. This is called the cambium. To make a successful graft the cambium in the scion must exactly join the cambium in the stock. Be careful, then, to see that cambium meets cambium. You now see why grafting can be more successfully done if you select a scion and stock of nearly the same size.

Fig. 66.
To make a root
graft, cut along
the slanting line

Which is the shoot or twig that you cut from the tree

Which is the shoot or twig that you cut from the tree

Which is the shoot or twig that you cut from the tree

There are many ways in which you may join the chosen shoot or twig upon the young tree, but perhaps the best one for you to use is known as tongue grafting. This is illustrated in Fig. 64. The upper part, b, which is the shoot or twig that you cut from the tree, is known as the scion; the lower part, a, which is the original tree, is called the stock.

If you have decided to raise an Æsop or a Magnum Bonum or a Winesap

If you have decided to raise an Æsop or a Magnum Bonum or a Winesap

If you have decided to raise an Æsop or a Magnum Bonum or a Winesap

If you have decided to raise an Æsop or a Magnum Bonum or a Winesap, you must now cut a twig from the tree of your choice and graft it upon the little tree that you have raised. Choose a twig that is about the thickness of the young tree at the point where you wish to graft. Be careful to take the shoot from a vigorous, healthy part of the tree.

The Magnum Bonum is a great favorite as a fall apple

The Magnum Bonum is a great favorite as a fall apple

The Magnum Bonum is a great favorite as a fall apple

First you must decide what variety of apple you want to grow on the tree. The Magnum Bonum is a great favorite as a fall apple. The Winesap is a good winter apple, while the Red Astrachan is a profitable early apple, especially in the lowland of the coast region. The Northern Spy, Æsop, and Spitzenburg are also admirable kinds. Possibly some other apple that you know may suit your taste and needs better than any of these varieties.

Fig. 65. A Completed Graft
Showing scion and
stock from which
it was made

Grafting

Grafting

Fig. 64. Tongue Grafting

By a process known as grafting you can force your tree to produce whatever variety of apple you desire. Many people raise fruit trees directly from seed without grafting. Thus they often produce really worthless trees. By grafting they would make sure not only of having good trees rather than poor ones but also of having the particular kind of fruit that they wish. Hence you must now graft your tree.

For an apple tree from seed will not be a tree like its parent

For an apple tree from seed will not be a tree like its parent

For an apple tree from seed will not be a tree like its parent

Now when spring comes it will not do to set out the carefully tended tree, for an apple tree from seed will not be a tree like its parent, but will tend to resemble a more distant ancestor. The distant ancestor that the young apple tree is most likely to take after is the wild apple, which is small, sour, and otherwise far inferior to the fruit we wish to grow. It makes little difference, therefore, what kind of apple seed we plant, since in any event we cannot be sure that the tree grown from it will bear fruit worth having unless we force it to do so.

Fig. 63. A Young Fruit-Grower

How to Raise a Fruit Tree

How to Raise a Fruit Tree

Let each pupil grow an apple tree this year and attempt to make it the best in his neighborhood. In your attempt suppose you try the following plan. In the fall take the seed of an apple—a crab-apple is good—and keep it in a cool place during the winter. The simplest way to do this is to bury it in damp sand. In the spring plant it in a rich, loose soil.

Great care must be taken of the young shoot as soon as it appears above the ground. You want to make it grow as tall and as straight as possible during this first year of its life, hence you should give it rich soil and protect it from animals. Before the ground freezes in the fall take up the young tree with the soil that was around it and keep it all winter in a cool, damp place.

Tube 1 Represents One Pound of Redtop Grass as Bought; Tube 2, Amount of Pure Redtop Grass Seeds in Tube 1; Tube 3, Amount of Chaff And Dirt in Tube 1; Tube 4, Amount of Weed Seeds in Tube 1; Tube 5, Amount of Total Waste in Tube 1; Tube 6, Amount of Pure Germinable Seeds in Tube 1

Tube 1 Represents One Pound of Redtop Grass as Bought; Tube 2, Amount of Pure Redtop Grass Seeds in Tube 1; Tube 3, Amount of Chaff And Dirt in Tube 1; Tube 4, Amount of Weed Seeds in Tube 1; Tube 5, Amount of Total Waste in Tube 1; Tube 6, Amount of Pure Germinable Seeds in Tube 1

EXERCISE

Examine seeds both for vitality and purity. Write for farmers' bulletins on both these subjects. What would be the loss to a farmer who planted a ten-acre clover field with seeds that were 80 per cent bad? Can you recognize the seeds of the principal cultivated plants? Germinate some beet seeds. What per cent comes up? Can you explain? Collect for your school as many kinds of wild and cultivated seeds as you can.

It not seldom happens that seeds

It not seldom happens that seeds

It not seldom happens that seeds

It not seldom happens that seeds, like corn, are stored in open cribs or barns before the moisture is entirely dried out of the seeds. Such seeds are liable to be frozen during a severe winter, and of course if this happens they will not sprout the following spring. The only way to tell whether such seeds have been killed is to test samples of them for vitality. Testing is easy; replanting is costly and often results in a short crop.

Fig. 62. Impurities in Seeds

And this impurity was mainly of weed seeds

And this impurity was mainly of weed seeds

And this impurity was mainly of weed seeds

One case is reported in which a seed-dealer intentionally allowed an impurity of 30 per cent to remain in the crop seeds, and this impurity was mainly of weed seeds. There were 450,000 of one kind and 288,000 of another in each pound of seed. Think of planting weeds at that rate! Sometimes three fourths of the seeds you buy are weed seeds.

In purchasing seeds the only safe plan is to buy of dealers whose reputation can be relied upon.

Much more difficult to find out whether the seeds are pure

Much more difficult to find out whether the seeds are pure

Much more difficult to find out whether the seeds are pure

Sometimes the appearance of a package will show whether the seed has been kept in stock a long time. It is, however, much more difficult to find out whether the seeds are pure. You can of course easily distinguish seeds that differ much from those you wish to plant, but often certain weed seeds are so nearly like certain crop seeds as not to be easily recognized by the eye. Thus the dodder or "love vine," which so often ruins the clover crop, has seeds closely resembling clover seeds. The chess, or cheat, has seeds so nearly like oats that only a close observer can tell them apart. However, if you watch the seeds that you buy, and study the appearance of crop seeds, you may become expert in recognizing those that have no place in your planting.

Or place them between moist pieces of flannel

Or place them between moist pieces of flannel

Or place them between moist pieces of flannel

To test vitality plant one hundred seeds in a pot of earth or in damp sand, or place them between moist pieces of flannel, and take care to keep them moist and warm. Count those that germinate and thus determine the percentage of vitality. Germinating between flannel is much quicker than planting in earth. Care should be used to keep mice away from germinating seeds. (See Fig. 61.)

Fig. 61. A Seed-germinator
Consisting of two soup plates, some sand, and a piece of cloth

Dealers who are not honest often sell old seeds

Dealers who are not honest often sell old seeds

Dealers who are not honest often sell old seeds

It is important when buying seeds to test them for purity and vitality. Dealers who are not honest often sell old seeds, although they know that seeds decrease in value with age. Sometimes, however, to cloak dishonesty they mix some new seeds with the old, or bleach old and yellow seeds in order to make them resemble fresh ones.

It is important, therefore, that all seeds bought of dealers should be thoroughly examined and tested; for if they do not grow, we not only pay for that which is useless but we are also in great danger of producing so few plants in our fields that we shall not get full use of the land, and thus we may suffer a more serious loss than merely paying for a few dead seeds. It will therefore be both interesting and profitable to learn how to test the vitality of seeds.

75 per cent when two years old

75 per cent when two years old

75 per cent when two years old

Cucumber seeds may show 90 per cent vitality when they are one year old, 75 per cent when two years old, and 70 per cent when three years old—the per cent of vitality diminishing with increase of years. The average length of life of the seeds of cultivated plants is short: for example, the tomato lives four years; corn, two years; the onion, two years; the radish, five years. The cucumber seed may retain life after ten years; but the seeds of this plant too lose their vitality with an increase in years.

Seed Purity And Vitality

Seed Purity And Vitality

Seeds produce plants. The difference between a large and a small yield may depend upon the kind of plants we raise, and the kind of plant in turn is dependent upon the seeds that we sow.

Two things are important in the selection of seeds—purity and vitality. Seeds should be pure; that is, when sown they should produce no other plant than the one that we wish to raise. They should be able to grow. The ability of a seed to grow is termed its vitality. Good seed should be nearly or quite pure and should possess high vitality. The vitality of seeds is expressed as a per cent; for example, if 97 seeds out of 100 germinate, or sprout, the vitality is said to be 97. The older the seed the less is its vitality, except in a few rare instances in which seeds cannot germinate under two or three years.

Weeds do injury in numerous ways

Weeds do injury in numerous ways

Weeds do injury in numerous ways

Weeds do injury in numerous ways; they shade the crop, steal its nourishment, and waste its moisture. Perhaps their only service is to make lazy people till their crops.

EXERCISE

You should learn to know by name the twenty worst weeds of your vicinity and to recognize their seeds. If there are any weeds you are not able to recognize, send a sample of each to your state experiment station. Make a collection, properly labeled, of weeds and weed seeds for your school.

These weeds are usually most difficult to kill

These weeds are usually most difficult to kill

These weeds are usually most difficult to kill

A third group of weeds consists of those that live for more than two years. These weeds are usually most difficult to kill. They propagate by means of running rootstocks as well as by seeds. Plants that live more than two seasons are known as perennials and include, for example, many grasses, dock, Canada thistle, poison ivy, passion flower, horse nettle, etc. There are many methods of destroying perennial weeds. They may be dug entirely out and removed. Sometimes in small areas they may be killed by crude sulphuric acid or may be starved by covering them with boards or a straw stack or in some other convenient way. A method that is very effective is to smother the weeds by a dense growth of some other plant, for example, cowpeas or buckwheat. Cowpeas are to be preferred, since they also enrich the soil by the nitrogen that the root-tubercles gather.

The wild carrot differs from an annual in this way

The wild carrot differs from an annual in this way

The wild carrot differs from an annual in this way

The wild carrot differs from an annual in this way: it lives throughout one whole year without producing seeds. During its first year it accumulates a quantity of nourishment in the root, then rests in the winter. Throughout the following summer it uses this nourishment rapidly to produce its flowers and seeds. Then the plant dies. Plants that live through two seasons in this way are called biennials. Weeds of this kind may be destroyed by cutting the roots below the leaves with a grubbing-hoe or spud. A spud may be described as a chisel on a long handle (see Fig. 58). If biennials are not cut low enough they will branch out anew and make many seeds. Among the most common biennials are the thistle, moth mullein, wild carrot, wild parsnip, and burdock.

Fig. 60. Canada Thistle

Is called an annual and is one of the easiest weeds to destroy

Is called an annual and is one of the easiest weeds to destroy

Is called an annual and is one of the easiest weeds to destroy

A plant like the pigweed, which lives only one year, is called an annual and is one of the easiest weeds to destroy. Mustard, plantain, chess, dodder, cockle, crab grass, and Jimson weed are a few of our most disagreeable annual weeds.

The best time to kill any weed is when it is very small; therefore the ground in early spring should be constantly stirred in order to kill the young weeds before they grow to be strong and hardy.

Fig. 59. Hound's Tongue

If we can prevent the plant from bearing seed in its first year

If we can prevent the plant from bearing seed in its first year

If we can prevent the plant from bearing seed in its first year

The ordinary pigweed (Fig. 56) differs from many other weeds in that it lives for only one year. When winter comes, it must die. Each plant, however, bears a great number of seeds. If we can prevent the plant from bearing seed in its first year, there will not be many seeds to come up the next season. In fact, only those seeds that were too deeply buried in the soil to come up the previous spring will be left, and of these two-year-old seeds many will not germinate. During the next season some old seeds will produce plants, but the number will be very much diminished. If care be exercised to prevent the pigweed from seeding again, and the same watchfulness be continued for a few seasons, this weed will be almost entirely driven from our fields.

Fig. 58. A Spud

Boone County White Corn on Left, And Original Type, From Which it Was Developed by Selection, on Right Weeds

Boone County White Corn on Left, And Original Type, From Which it Was Developed by Selection, on Right Weeds

Fig. 56. Pigweed

Have you ever noticed that some weeds are killed by one particular method, but that this same method may entirely fail to kill other kinds of weeds? If we wish to free our fields of weeds with the greatest ease, we must know the nature of each kind of weed and then attack it in the way in which we can most readily destroy it.

Fig. 57. Wild Carrot

EXPERIMENT

EXPERIMENT

EXPERIMENT

EXPERIMENT

Every school boy and girl can make this experiment at leisure. From your own field get two ears of corn, one from a stalk bearing only one ear and the other from a stalk bearing two well-grown ears. Plant the grains from one ear in one plat, and the grains from the other in a plat of equal size. Use for both the same soil and the same fertilizer. Cultivate both plats in the same way. When the crop is ready to harvest, husk the corn, count the ears, and weigh the corn. Then write a short essay on your work and on the results and get your teacher to correct the story for your home paper.

Fig. 55. Improvement of Corn by Selection

In addition to enlarging the yield of corn

In addition to enlarging the yield of corn

In addition to enlarging the yield of corn

In addition to enlarging the yield of corn, you can, by proper selection of the best and most productive plants in the field, grow a new variety of seed corn. To do this you need only take the largest and best kernels from stalks bearing two ears; plant these, and at the next harvest again save the best kernels from stalks bearing the best ears. If you keep up this practice with great care for several years, you will get a vigorous, fruitful variety that will command a high price for seed.

Whether the stalk had two or more ears or only one

Whether the stalk had two or more ears or only one

Whether the stalk had two or more ears or only one

These facts ought to be very helpful to us next year when our fathers are planting corn. We should get them to plant seed secured only from stalks that produced the most corn, whether the stalk had two or more ears or only one. If we follow this plan year by year, each acre of land will be made to produce more kernels and hence a larger crop of corn, and yet no more work will be required to raise the crop.

This resemblance of offspring to parent is known

This resemblance of offspring to parent is known

This resemblance of offspring to parent is known

This resemblance of offspring to parent is known to scientists as heredity, or as "like producing like."

Some Southern corn-breeders take advantage of this law to improve their corn crop. If a stalk can be made to produce two ears of corn just as large as the single ear that most stalks bear, we shall get twice as much corn from a field in which the "two-eared" variety is planted. In the North and West the best varieties of corn have been selected to make but one ear to the stalk. It is generally believed that this is the best practice for the shorter growing seasons of the colder states.

Corn will resemble its parent stock

Corn will resemble its parent stock

Corn will resemble its parent stock

Now in the same way that the young blackbirds resemble their parents, corn will resemble its parent stock. How many ears of corn do you find on a stalk? One, two, sometimes three or four. You find two ears of corn on a stalk because it is the nature of that particular stalk to produce two ears. In the same way the nature of some stalks is to produce but one ear, while it is the nature of others sometimes to produce two or more.

By wise and persistent selection

By wise and persistent selection

By wise and persistent selection

By wise and persistent selection, made in the field before the crop is fully matured, corn can be improved in size and made to mature earlier. Gather ears only from the most productive plants and save only the largest and best kernels.

You have no doubt seen the common American blackbirds that usually migrate and feed in such large numbers. They all look alike in every way. Now, has it ever occurred to you to ask why all blackbirds are black? The blackbirds are black simply because their parents are black.

Fig. 54. Select Seed
from a Stalk like
that on Left

Selecting Seed Corn

Selecting Seed Corn

Fig. 53. The Kind
of Ear to Select

If a farmer would raise good crops he must, as already stated, select good seed. Many of the farmer's disappointments in the quantity and quality of his crops—disappointments often thought to come from other causes—are the result of planting poor seed. Seeds not fully ripened, if they grow at all, produce imperfect plants. Good seed, therefore, is the first thing necessary for a good crop. The seed of perfect plants only should be saved.

EXERCISE

EXERCISE

EXERCISE

EXERCISE

Select one hundred seeds from a good, and one hundred from a poor, plant of the same variety. Sow them in two plats far enough apart to avoid cross-pollination, yet try to have soil conditions about the same. Give each the same care and compare the yield. Try this with corn, cotton, and wheat. Select seeds from the best plant in your good plat and from the poorest in your poor plat and repeat the experiment. This will require but a few feet of ground, and the good plat will pay for itself in yield, while the poor plat will more than pay in the lesson that it will teach you.

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., and to your state experiment station for bulletins concerning seed-selection and methods of plant-improvement.

In 1862 Mr Abraham Fultz of Pennsylvania

In 1862 Mr Abraham Fultz of Pennsylvania

In 1862 Mr Abraham Fultz of Pennsylvania

In 1862 Mr. Abraham Fultz of Pennsylvania, while passing through a field of bearded wheat, found three heads of beardless, or bald, wheat. These he sowed by themselves that year, and as they turned out specially productive he continued to sow this new variety. Soon he had enough seed to distribute over the country. It became known as the Fultz wheat and is to-day one of the best varieties in the United States and in a number of foreign countries. Think how many bushels of wheat have been added to the world's annual supply by a few moments of intelligent observation and action on the part of this one man! He saw his opportunity and used it. How many similar opportunities do you think are lost? How much does your state or country lose thereby?

It often happens that a single plant in a crop of corn

It often happens that a single plant in a crop of corn

It often happens that a single plant in a crop of corn

It often happens that a single plant in a crop of corn, cotton, or wheat will be far superior to all others in the field. Such a plant deserves special care. Do not use it merely as a seed plant, but carefully plant its seeds apart and tend carefully. The following season select the best of its offspring as favorites again. Repeat this selection and culture for several years until you fix the variety. This is the way new varieties are originated from plants propagated by seed.

In England the average yield of wheat is thirty bushels an acre

In England the average yield of wheat is thirty bushels an acre

In England the average yield of wheat is thirty bushels an acre

In England the average yield of wheat is thirty bushels an acre, in the United States it is less than fifteen bushels! In some states the yield is even less than nine bushels an acre. Let us select our seed with care, as the English people do, and then we can increase our yield. By careful seed-selection a plant-breeder in Minnesota increased the yield of his wheat by one fourth. Think what it would mean if twenty-five per cent were added to the world's supply of wheat at comparatively no cost; that is, at the mere cost of careful seed-selection. This would mean an addition to the world's income of about $500,000,000 each year. The United States would get about one fifth of this profit.

Always give this plat unwearying care

Always give this plat unwearying care

Always give this plat unwearying care

It is of course advisable to move your seed plat B every year or two. For the new plat select land that has recently been planted in legumes. Always give this plat unwearying care.

In the selection of plants from which to get seed, you must know what kind of plants are really the best seed plants. First, you must not regard single heads or grains, but must select seed from the most perfect plant, looking at the plant as a whole and not at any single part of it. A first consideration is yield. Select the plants that yield best and are at the same time resistant to drouth, resistant to rust and to winter, early to ripen, plump of grain, and nonshattering. What a fine thing it would be to find even one plant free from rust in the midst of a rusted field! It would mean a rust-resistant plant. Its offspring also would probably be rust-resistant. If you should ever find such a plant, be sure to save its seed and plant it in a plat by itself. The next year again save seed from those plants least rusted. Possibly you can develop a rust-proof race of wheat! Keep your eyes open.

In the fall sow these selected seeds in area B

In the fall sow these selected seeds in area B

In the fall sow these selected seeds in area B

In the fall sow these selected seeds in area B. This area should produce the best wheat. At the next harvest cull not from the whole field but from the finest plants of plat B, and again save these as seed for plat B. Use the unculled seed from plat B to sow your crop. By following this plan continuously you will every year have seed from several generations of choice plants, and each year you will improve your seed.

In this case adopt the following plan

In this case adopt the following plan

In this case adopt the following plan

The plan of choosing seeds from selected plants may be applied to wheat; but it would of course be too time-consuming to select enough single wheat plants to furnish all of the seed wheat for the next year. In this case adopt the following plan: In Fig. 52 let A represent the total size of your wheat field and let B represent a plat large enough to furnish seed for the whole field. At harvest-time go into section A and select the best plants you can find. Pick the heads of these and thresh them by hand. The seed so obtained must be carefully saved for your next sowing.

Fig. 52.

You can in a similar way improve your cotton or any other seed crop

You can in a similar way improve your cotton or any other seed crop

You can in a similar way improve your cotton or any other seed crop

You can in a similar way improve your cotton or any other seed crop. Sugar beets have been made by seed-selection to produce about double the percentage of sugar that they did a few years ago. Preparing and tilling land costs too much in money and work to allow the land to be planted with poor seed. When you are trying by seed-selection to increase the yield of cotton, there are two principles that should be borne in mind: first, seed should be chosen only from plants that bear many well-filled bolls of long-staple cotton; second, seed should be taken from no plant that does not by its healthy condition show hardihood in resisting disease and drouth.

The selection of seed from those plants bearing the most seed

The selection of seed from those plants bearing the most seed

The selection of seed from those plants bearing the most seed

By the careful selection of seed from the longest flax plants the increase in length shown in the accompanying figure was gained. The selection of seed from those plants bearing the most seed, regardless of the height of the plant, has produced flax like that to the right in the illustration. These two kinds of flax are from the same parent stock, but slight differences have been emphasized by continued seed-selection, until we now have really two varieties of flax, one a heavy seed-bearer, the other producing a long fiber.

The difference that you see between the wild

The difference that you see between the wild

The difference that you see between the wild

The difference that you see between the wild and the cultivated chrysanthemums and between the samples of asparagus shown in Figs. 49 and 50 was brought about by just such continuous seed-selection from the kind of plant wanted.

Fig. 51. Two Varieties of Flax From One Parent Stock

When we plant King cotton we may expect to raise King cotton

When we plant King cotton we may expect to raise King cotton

When we plant King cotton we may expect to raise King cotton

While in a few plants like those just mentioned the seed does not "come true," most plants, for example, cotton, tobacco, and others, do "come true." When we plant King cotton we may expect to raise King cotton. There will be, however, as every one knows, some or even considerable variation in the field. Some plants, even in exactly the same soil, will be better than the average, and some will be poorer. Now we see this variation in the plants of our field, and we believe that the plant will be in the main like its parent. What should we learn from this? Surely that if we wish to produce sturdy, healthy, productive plants we must go into our fields and pick out just such plants to secure seed from as we wish to produce another year. If we wait until the seed is separated from the plant that produced it before we select our cotton seed, we shall be planting seed from poor as well as from good plants, and must be content with a crop of just such stock as we have planted. By selecting seed from the most productive plants in the field and by repeating the selection each year, you can continually improve the breed of the plant you are raising. In selecting seed for cotton you may follow the plan suggested below for wheat.

Figs. 49 and 50. Chrysanthemums and Asparagus

Plant Seeding

Plant Seeding

In propagating by seed, as in reproducing by buds, we select a portion of the parent plant—for a seed is surely a part of the parent plant—and place it in the ground. There is, however, one great difference between a seed and a bud. The bud is really a piece of the parent plant, but a piece of one plant only, while a seed comes from the parts of two plants.

You will understand this fully if you read carefully Sections XIV-XVI. Since the seed is made of two plants, the plant that springs from a seed is much more likely to differ from its mother plant, that is, from the plant that produces the seed, than is a plant produced merely by buds. In some cases plants "come true to seed" very accurately. In others they vary greatly. For example, when we plant the seed of wheat, turnips, rye, onions, tomatoes, tobacco, or cotton, we get plants that are in most respects like the parent plant. On the other hand the seed of a Crawford peach or a Baldwin apple or a Bartlett pear will not produce plants like its parent, but will rather resemble its wild forefathers. These seedlings, thus taking after their ancestors, are always far inferior to our present cultivated forms. In such cases seeding is not practicable, and we must resort to bud propagation of one sort or another.

Plants to be Propagated From Buds

Plants to be Propagated From Buds

The following list gives the names and methods by which our common garden fruits and flowers are propagated:

Figs: use cuttings 8 to 10 inches long or layer.

Grapes: use long cuttings, layer, or graft upon old vines.

Apples: graft upon seedlings, usually crab seedlings one year old.

Pears: bud upon pear seedlings.

Cherries: bud upon cherry stock.

Plums: bud upon peach stock.

Peaches: bud upon peach or plum seedlings.

Quinces: use cuttings or layer.

Blackberries: propagate by suckers; cut from parent stem.

Black raspberries: layer; remove old stem.

Red raspberries: propagate by root-cuttings or suckers.

Strawberries: propagate by runners.

Currants and gooseberries: use long cuttings (these plants grow well only in cool climates;
if attempted in warmclimates, set in cold exposure).

Carnations, geraniums, roses, begonias, etc.: propagate by
cuttings rooted in sand and then transplanted to small pots.

EXERCISE

Propagate fruits (grape, fig, strawberry) of various kinds; also ornamental plants. How long does it take them to root? Geraniums rooted in the spring will bloom in the fall. Do you know any one who selects seed potatoes properly? Make a careful selection of seed at the next harvest-time.

This is known as bud variation

This is known as bud variation

This is known as bud variation

Sometimes, too, a single bud on a tree will differ from the other buds and will produce a branch different from the other branches. This is known as bud variation. When there is thus developed a branch which happens to be of a superior kind, it should be propagated by cuttings just as you would propagate it if it had originated from a seed.

Mr. Gideon of Minnesota planted many apple seeds, and from them all raised one tree that was very fruitful, finely flavored, and able to withstand the cold Minnesota winter. This tree he multiplied by grafts and named the Wealthy apple. It is said that in giving this one apple to the world he benefited mankind to the value of more than one million dollars. It will be well to watch for any valuable bud or seed variant and never let a promising one be lost. Plants grown in this way from seeds are usually spoken of as seedlings.

A LUSCIOUS AND EASILY GROWN BERRY

For it occasionally leads to improvement

For it occasionally leads to improvement

For it occasionally leads to improvement

One of the main reasons why gardeners raise plants from buds instead of from seeds is that the seed of many plants will not produce plants like the parent. This failure to "come true," as it is called, is sometimes of value, for it occasionally leads to improvement. For example, suppose that a thousand apple or other fruit or flower seeds from plants usually propagated by cuttings be planted; it may be that one out of a thousand or a million will be a very valuable plant. If a valuable plant be so produced, it should be most carefully guarded, multiplied by cuttings or grafts, and introduced far and wide. It is in this way that new varieties of fruits and flowers are produced from time to time.

It is not enough to select large

It is not enough to select large

It is not enough to select large

It is not enough to select large, fine potatoes for cuttings. A large potato may not produce a bountifully yielding plant. It will produce a plant like the one that produced it. It may be that this one large potato was the only one produced by the original plant. If so, the plant that grows from it will tend to be similarly unproductive. Thus you see the importance of selecting in the field a plant that has exactly the qualities desired in the new plant.

Fig. 48. Currant Cutting

We should exercise fully as much care in

We should exercise fully as much care in

We should exercise fully as much care in

We should exercise fully as much care in selecting proper individuals from which to make a cutting or a layer as we do in selecting a proper animal to breed from. Just as we select the finest Jersey in the herd for breeding purposes, so we should choose first the variety of plant we desire and then the finest individual plant of that variety.

If the variety of the potato that we desire to raise be Early Rose, it is not enough to select any Early Rose plants, but the very best Early Rose plants, to furnish our seed.

Fig. 47. Layering

Sweet-potato plants are produced from shoots

Sweet-potato plants are produced from shoots

Sweet-potato plants are produced from shoots

Sweet-potato plants are produced from shoots, or growing buds, taken from the potato itself, so that in their case too the piece that we use in propagating is a part of the original plant, and will therefore be like it under similar conditions. Just as with the Irish potato, it is important to know how good a yielder you are planting. You should watch during harvest and select for propagation for the next year only such plants as yield best.

To know exactly what kind of plant our potato comes from

To know exactly what kind of plant our potato comes from

To know exactly what kind of plant our potato comes from

Since the eye is a bud and our potato plant for next year is to develop from this bud, it is of much importance, as we have seen, to know exactly what kind of plant our potato comes from. If the potato is taken from a small plant that had but a few poor potatoes in the hill, we may expect the bud to produce a similar plant and a correspondingly poor crop. We must see to it, then, that our seed potatoes are drawn from vines that were good producers, because new potato plants are like the plants from which they were grown. Of course when our potatoes are in the bin we cannot tell from what kind of plants they came. We must therefore select our seed potatoes in the field. Seed potatoes should always be selected from those hills that produce most bountifully. Be assured that the increased yield will richly repay this care in selecting. It matters not so much whether the seed potato be large or small; it must, however, come from a hill bearing a large yield of fine potatoes.

Fig. 46.
Begonia-Leaf Cutting

It is often the case that a budded

It is often the case that a budded

It is often the case that a budded

It is often the case that a budded or grafted plant is more fruitful than a plant on its own roots. In cases of this kind, of course, grafts or buds are used.

The white, or Irish, potato is usually propagated from pieces of the potato itself. Each piece used for planting bears one eye or more. The potato itself is really an underground stem and the eyes are buds. This method of propagation is therefore really a peculiar kind of cutting.

Grafts and buds are really cuttings which

Grafts and buds are really cuttings which

Grafts and buds are really cuttings which

Grafts and buds are really cuttings which, instead of being buried in sand to produce roots of their own, are set on the roots of other plants.

Grafting and budding are practiced when these methods are more convenient than cuttings or when the gardener thinks there is danger of failure to get plants to take root as cuttings. Neither grafting nor budding is, however, necessary for the raspberry or the grape, for these propagate most readily from cuttings.

Instead of cutting off a piece and rooting it

Instead of cutting off a piece and rooting it

Instead of cutting off a piece and rooting it

Sometimes, instead of cutting off a piece and rooting it, portions of branches are made to root before they are separated from the parent plant. This method is often followed, and is known as layering. It is a simple process. Just bend the tip of a bough down and bury it in the earth (see Fig. 47). The black raspberry forms layers naturally, but gardeners often aid it by burying the over-hanging tips in the earth, so that more tips may easily take root. Strawberries develop runners that root themselves in a similar fashion.

Fig. 45. Rose Cutting

Cuttings may vary in size and may include one or more buds

Cuttings may vary in size and may include one or more buds

Cuttings may vary in size and may include one or more buds

Cuttings may vary in size and may include one or more buds. After a hardy, vigorous cutting is made, insert it about one half or one third of its length in soil. A soil free from organic matter is much the best, since in such soil the cuttings are much less liable to disease. A fine, clean sand is commonly used by professional gardeners. When cuttings have rooted well this may require a month or more—they may be transplanted to larger pots.

Cuttings may be taken from various parts of the plant

Cuttings may be taken from various parts of the plant

Cuttings may be taken from various parts of the plant

Cuttings may be taken from various parts of the plant, sometimes even from parts of the leaf, as in the begonia (Fig. 46). More often, however, they are drawn from parts of the stem (Figs. 43-45). As to the age of the twig from which the cutting is to be taken, Professor Bailey says: "For most plants the proper age or maturity of wood for the making of cuttings may be determined by giving the twig a quick bend; if it snaps and hangs by the bark, it is in proper condition. If it bends without breaking, it is too young and soft or too old. If it splinters, it is too old and woody." Some plants, as the geranium (Fig. 42), succeed best if the cuttings from which they are grown are taken from soft, young parts of the plant; others, for example, the grape or rose, do better when the cutting is made from more mature wood.

Fig. 44. Carnation Cutting

And suited to your climate and your needs

And suited to your climate and your needs

And suited to your climate and your needs

What qualities are most desirable in a plant from which cuttings are to be taken? First, it should be productive, hardy, and suited to your climate and your needs; second, it should be healthy. Do not take cuttings from a diseased plant, since the cutting may carry the disease.

Fig. 43. Grape Cutting
Showing depth to
which cutting should
be planted

We must therefore decide on the variety of berry

We must therefore decide on the variety of berry

We must therefore decide on the variety of berry

We expect the cutting to make exactly the same variety of plant as the parent stock. We must therefore decide on the variety of berry, grape, fig, carnation, or rose that we wish to propagate, and then look for the strongest and most promising plants of this variety within our reach. The utmost care will not produce a fine plant if we start from poor stock.

In growing plants from cuttings

In growing plants from cuttings

In growing plants from cuttings

In growing plants from cuttings, a piece is taken from the kind of plant that one wishes to grow. The greatest care must be exercised in order to get a healthy cutting. If we take a cutting from a poor plant, what can we expect but to grow a poor plant like the one from which our cutting was taken? On the other hand, if a fine, strong, vigorous, fruitful plant be selected, we shall expect to grow just such a fine, healthy, fruitful plant.

Brighton Pollinated by 1, Salem; 2, Creveling; 3, Lindley; 4, Brighton; 5, Self-pollinated; 6, Nectar; 7, Jefferson; 8, Niagara

Brighton Pollinated by 1, Salem; 2, Creveling; 3, Lindley; 4, Brighton; 5, Self-pollinated; 6, Nectar; 7, Jefferson; 8, Niagara

Fig. 42. Geranium Cutting
Dotted line shows
depth to which cutting
should be planted

Propagation by Buds

Propagation by Buds

It is the business of the farmer to make plants grow, or, as it is generally called, to propagate plants. This he does in one of two ways: by buds (that is, by small pieces cut from parent plants), or by seeds. The chief aim in both methods should be to secure in the most convenient manner the best-paying plants.

Many plants are most easily and quickly propagated by buds; for example, the grape, red raspberry, fig, and many others that we cultivate for the flower only, such as the carnation, geranium, rose, and begonia.

Fig. 41.

It often happens that a plant will be more fruitful when pollinated

It often happens that a plant will be more fruitful when pollinated

It often happens that a plant will be more fruitful when pollinated

It often happens that a plant will be more fruitful when pollinated by one variety than by some other variety. This is well illustrated in Fig. 41. A fruit-grower or farmer should know much about these subjects before selecting varieties for his orchard, vineyard, etc.

EXERCISE

With the help of your teacher try to cross some plants. Such an experiment will take time, but will be most interesting. You must remember that many crosses must be attempted in order to gain success with even a few.