Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-04-06
TOP GRATING APPLE TREES
BY W. s. Coburn. President State
Board OF Horticulture. Hotch-
Etas rnlnrabn

and the pear tree. You will see its ad-
yantages over the old way OF planting
the original tree OF the variety desired.
We all know that all apple trees are
not Of the same hardness. thrifty
growers and long lived. We will take.
for instance, three OF the kinds most In
demand for commercial purpose and
largely grown. especially on the west
ern slope of this state: the Jonathan.
Winesap and Rome Beauty. The iona
than Is only considered half hardy. but
one OF the best early winter varieties
grown. and In great demand for Christ.
mas and New Years. The tree while
young seems to be a fair grower and
yields large crops OF good-sized ap'
pies. but ut the age OF fifteen to
twenty years We find many falling. The
tree stops growing. the foliage be-
comes small and often light colored.
the fruit while the tree Is full also
stops growing and very little OF II will
get TO a marketable size. Close exam,
ination fails to reveal any disease. and
| the conclusion arrived at is. that II.
like some OF the human family. is short
lived. For that reason l would not
plant the Jonathan three.
The Rome Beauty tree is the next one
We will take under consideration. the
| u
| pearance. good quality. and Its season
is the last OF February and March I'M
| der me ordinary way OF keeping ap'
pies. but when put into cold storage
comes cut In April and May in line
shape. The tree when iirst set Is an
upright. rank grower. In fact. IL grows
70 thrifty that unless precautionary
measures are taken TO stop Its growth
and riper up the wood. the trunk VIII OF.
ten crack open from the limbs to the
ground. killing the tree. We have OF.
ten seen as many as ten acres OF this
variety dying of every winter until ut
the end OF i've years there were none
left. For this reason We would not
plant n Rome Beauty tree.
The next under consideration Is the
Wincsap. an apple OF rather medium
size. best quality. long keeper md
greatly In demand. II IL generally un.
dcrstood by ali fruit growers that to
grow the Winesap successfully II must
bc planted on very rich deep soil for
best results. as the apple Is naturally
rather undcrsizci. We will ask the
average planter II he has ever noticed
the WincEap trees M they came from
the nursery ready to plant In the or.
chard. II Is Cnc OF the poorest grow
Ing trees In the nursery. spfawling
limbs. one sided and the poorest
rooted: three or four main roots often
growing ali on one side. with few
iibrouS or lateral roots. For this rca'
son It's capacity for gathering the fer.
tiiizinE qualities OF the surrounding
soil Is limited and when the tree gets
TO be fifteen or twenty years old unless
severely pruned and thinncd out, the
fruit will be too small FOR market. For
N.l. 4. h..A 80. u..HlF
remedy. and the only remedy that We
have been able to prescribe Is TO top
graft on the thrif,icst growing tree.
Top grating has been prncticcd for
hundreds of years and very little i'm.
proycmcnt has been made on the old
style of splitting the stock. which In n
very bunglinE and unsatisfactory way.
and unreliable. Having planted
large variety In new country where
fruit growing was an experiment and
all kinds grew and maturcd TO pcrfcc'
| tion. We naturally wanted to grow n
few OF the best commercial varieties.
hence the necessity for either digging
up and planting again or top graft the
objcctional ones. The planting OF
young trees among those from ten TO
twelve years old makes the orchard
present n ragged. uneven appearance.
hence my decision to top graft. We
have grated summer. fall and winter
varieties. red and yellow. sweet and
sour. to the Jonathan. Wincsap and
Rome Beauty with the same success.
hence for the reasons given In the fore.
going I would advocate planting the
hardest. rankcst growing. best.rootcd
trees that could be had and letting
them grow three years In the orchard
when the root system will become well
established and then top graft TO such
varieties as the market In your local.
ity demand.
For the benefit OF those who are not In.
miliar with the hardest and thriftiest
growing trees II might be advisable
to mention some OF them: The Scott's
Winter. Northern Spy. LAWYER. Red
Astrachan. Baldwin and Ben Davis.
also some of the crabs make fine stock
for the purpose. like Quaker Beauty.
Hyslop and General Grant. Should
YOU have some of the shy.bearing VA.
ricties like Arkansas Black. Northern
, Spy. or others. we would advise graft.
ing them on the prolific stocks OF
the crab family, or the Russian varie.
ties, which are usually great bearers.
| have made n study and a thorough
test of this branch OF horticulture for
years and find 1t very satisfactory. In
conclusion. l would say that 1t Is my
candid opinion that he who plants and
grows an orchard under the above d.
rections will have the thriftiest, long
est lived and best bearing orchard that
1t is possible to grow.
Directions for Top Grating.
The method of grating is: Saw in
three-eighths of an inch on top and
two and one.half to three inches down