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WISCONSIN FAR ERS' INSTrrUTA
the old sorts, selecting seedlinga
from them, to experiment with, thai
you would have been much further
along than you are now. And that
brings me to say a few words upon
the subject of seedlings
Xy Idea of Seedlings.
There Is so widespread an error in
regard to the hardiness and value of
seedlings, that I wish to make some
very emphatic statements regarding
them, in order that you may get intc
your minds the uselessness of depend-
ing in any way on producing fruit
from seeds. The apples which we
grow, the varieties which are in our
orchards, are not of the different
kinds and  shapes which we gros
from the seed. We all understand
that if we plant seeds from any cer-
tain varieties they produce some-
thing, we know not what, but they
differ from the fruit the seed came
from, and in nine hundred and
ninety-nine cases or more out of a
thousand, they are inferior in quality
to the parent. The fact Is that the
grafted fruits that we have are aim-
ply selected seedlings.  The grafted
varieties are generally very much
more hardy than are seedlings, for
they are seedlings selected for hardi-
ness, as well as quality. If you plant
a thousand seeds from any of the
hardy varieties of apples, you will be
surprised to know that nearly every
one of those will be much less hardy
than the parent.  Sometimes people
say, "If we could only get varieties
as hardy as the seedlings that used
to grow In my father's orchard,
what a splendid thing It would be."
Well, It would be, if the majority of
the seedlings that grew In your
father's orchard were hardy, but they
were not The chances are that the
varieties of apples grown today are
better than they have ever been be-
fore, and so It is about orchards with
regard  to  hardiness.  The    fact
It that tile seeqplings are ipuch
less hardy than those which ae
propagated by grafting The varl.-
ties that we use for propagating ar
those that have been selected for pe-
culiar hardiness as well as other su-
perior qualities, and they are much
hardier than the average seedlings I
have known people who have planted
entire orchards of seedlings on the
supposition that they were  getting
something that would be hardy, even
If they produced something a little
lower in quality. This Is absolutely
false, as any man who ever planted
any apple seeds and watched the re-
suit of the seedlings produced from
them, know. In my own case I have
planted bushels of seeds In a mercan-
tile way for the producing of seed-
lings upon which to graft, and wher-
ever they have stood out for a year or
two through severe winters, there
has always been a very large and se-
vere loss because many of them were
unable to withstand the rigors of the
winter, while the grafted sort, which
had grown for the same length of
time, were perfectly hardy and able
to stand for themselves.
Now, It always seems to me in
speaking upon any subject of this
kind that it is better just to make a
few general statements and remarks
and then to find out from some of you
what you are particularly interested
in hearing, and what you wish to
know about it, and so I will wait for
questions
DZSCUUSION.
Mr. Kellogg-We are troubled very
much with Ire blight in our or-
chards, and during the past year It
has come Into our nurseries. Will
you tell us what are the causes and
what is the prevention and if It is
contagious?
Prof. Taylor-I think there is no
question but that It is contagious. In
my own experience in growing tress
in the nursey, I bave found that erec
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