Proceedings Library

Many things have changed since then—the time when people planted trees thirty to forty per acre has long passed, and nowadays three to four hundred per acre is not uncommon! This is the time of wide variation of types, with many specific characteristics on different soils, under different climates and in different countries. It is with this in mind that we will attempt to

Stratification is one of a number of treatments commonly used to overcome seed dormancy. Such include the use of light or other radiation, the use of various chemicals such as thiourea, nitrates, ethylene gas, citric acid, and gibberellin, soaking in hot water and acids and many others. Some of these appear to be interchangeable. In particular, stratification can substitute for the others in many instances.

The suggestion has been made and generally accepted that the course of germination may follow one of several pathways, that blocks may be present in one or

Source of seed is a never-ending problem. Local seed crops are always the best, as they will have a higher moisture content and require less processing for germination. Imported seeds have to be fumigated; if moisture and temperature are high the methyl bromide will stop germination. In general, we have found that it pays to keep the seeds in transit the least possible time. Air shipment may seem rather costly, but it usually pays back dividends with better germination.

Seeds in the berry form will germinate better if the outer pulp is left in close contact with the seed during stratification. Probably the acid of the pulp

Most of the work up to date has been done with sowing grass seed. This is done with hydro-seeding machines which have been built on several different carriers. Some small ones are built on two-axle truck chassis while others are built on trailers and semi-trailers. The tanks in which the slurry is mixed are of different sizes, as are the high pressure pumps. The tanks will hold enough mix to cover a given number of acres with so many seeds per acre.

The slurry is made of seed, water, fertilizer and mulch. The mulch may be made of different materials, such as grounded straw or hay, held together with oil or thin asphalt. However, the fact that straw is flammable makes it a distinct hazard. Some companies make a wood fiber mulch that holds together very well and its moisture retaining power is quite satisfactory. A

We use ‘Cunningham White’ for the understock because it roots very easily and, unlike R. ponticum, it has a high resistance to root rot, it does not sucker from the base, and it has been compatible with all varieties that we have tried grafted on it.

I would like to illustrate the actual process

The usual procedure in propagating such slow-rooting varieties is to graft them, onto potted stock in late winter, but for this purpose the stock must first be grown from seeds or cuttings and at best this causes a delay of a year or two. Besides, the potted stock or the pre-rooting of the cuttings takes considerable greenhouse space, which increases the expense of the whole operation.

Much quicker results at much less expense can be obtained by taking cuttings of certain easy-to-root varieties, which have the tendency to develop a good root system, and grafting scions onto them immediately before they are placed in the rooting medium.

Easy-to-

An ample supply of the right hardened-off shoots of new growth are a "must" in successful twig grafting. Both scionwood and rootstock wood must be available simultaneously at the proper time. We grow our own original mother plants, both for rootstocks and for scions.

Our selections and methods are based on "research," if you will pardon our usage of this word with this definition — "If one appropriate another man's idea, that is stealing; but if you combine the ideas of many experts along with your own, that is research." We should confess plagiarism in "twig-grafting." Dr. F. F. Halma and fellow

Chemical treatments have not been consistently successful in rooting Douglas fir cuttings from mature trees. Other workers have found, as we have, that indolebutyric acid (IBA) will induce rooting in cuttings from old trees but the results can not consistently be replicated in other years and with other trees. Mechanical aids, such as wounding, have not improved the results. On the other hand, cuttings from seedlings of Douglas fir root fairly readily even without chemical treatments. It, therefore, seemed worth testing whether cuttings

In the Pacific Northwest, Douglas fir is receiving the most attention from research and tree improvement workers. This species has proven to be very easy to graft. However, with the older grafted seed orchards (some now 10 years old), losses due to incompatibility between stock and scion have been of serious magnitude. Recent studies by Dr. Copes gives us hope that grafting may become practical in the future.

However, another way to beat a problem is to avoid it. A clone can also

Layering, rooting and grafting, as different means of vegetative propagation, have been widely used in horticulture from ancient times. Rooting is the most widely used method of asexual reproduction in forestry practice. Rooting by stem cuttings, mainly in the genera Populus, Salix and Platanus is a well developed practice in intensive forest management. Layering is of a more limited application and is used mainly in experimental

At this time we are growing apples on ‘E.M. IX’ and ‘E.M. VII’ understocks. The reason we have confined our growing to these two is that we sell primarily to retail stores; ‘E.M. IX’, a dwarf of 8 to 10 feet, and ‘E.M. VII’, a semi-dwarf—12 to 15 feet—are the most acceptable. We discontinued ‘E.M. IV’ because of its brittle roots. Our finished trees are never sold as whips, but are headed back at approximately 40 inches and are grown on as well-branched 2 and 3-year-olds.

We propagate our stocks as both mound and continuous layers. Our original stock came from Canada. We

To point up the incompatibility problem, let me repeat graft survival data from three seed orchardists of Oregon and Washington. Mortality from purely technique failures—that occurring during the first 2 or 3 months after grafting—was excluded from data. In one

We are located at Silverton Hills near Silverton, Oregon, in the Cascade foothills at an elevation of 1500 feet. We are 15 airline miles east of Salem, Oregon. Our soil is Olympic clay loam and is of a medium texture. Locally it is called "shot" soil.

We gather some conifer seeds for our own use, such as noble fir, western and mountain hemlock, Abies magnifica and Abies concolor. Noble fir is collected in the Cascades at 3500–4000 feet elevation. Abies concolor and Abies magnifica are collected in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California at about 7000 and 8000 feet elevation, respectively. We buy most of our seeds.

Seed is stratified in one of two ways; (1) with damp peat in plastic bags—50% seeds and 50% peat with moisture

Today, we are faced with the problem of accomplishing a monotonous, tedious job with a labour force which is rapidly diminishing in terms of quantity and quality. In some regions an attempt has been made to mechanize this operation by borrowing techniques from agricultural practice and by modifying agricultural equipment such as the broccoli planter. These tractor-drawn

The first part of this paper will be concerned with the aforementioned trials; the second, with problems we have encountered in our attempts to measure endogenous growth regulators; and the last, with current studies designed to define the role such endogenous regulators play in

The need for early defoliation in the nursery to allow earlier digging of stock has undoubtedly existed for years in many areas. Hand-stripping is a common, but very expensive method of leaf removal. Other non-chemical methods (sweating in pits, use of animals, etc.) have been used but all have serious limitations.

Chemically-induced defoliation prior to digging and storage is potentially the most promising method of leaf removal, but an entirely satisfactory chemical treatment for a wide variety of plants has not been found. A number of chemicals have been tried (3,4,6,8,9,10,11) by various workers, but only a few have been useful and none has received commercial acceptance. A naturally occurring growth regulator, such as Abscisin II (1), seems

Our first operation is to lay down the bands, which are made of 2¾" plastic. The beds where we root our rhododendrons are all ground beds, so we lay down the bands in straight rows, anywhere from 17 to 28 bands across- depending on the width of the

The benches are made of concrete slabs with a six inch sides. They are skirted with polyethylene. Monarch spray nozzles with a 5-ft. coverage set four feet apart adequately provide controlled mist. They are controlled by a clock with a 10 second every 5 minute cycle but are shut off nights and rainy days. Every few days I "spot water" to cover the dry areas.

I use square peat pots set on ½" of sand — 3" for standard varieties and 2¼" for dwarfs — firmly filled with a medium of 50% coarse sand and 50% peat by volume. These pots are well-watered after they are set and the heat is turned on before I begin taking cuttings.

I make my cuttings during the first part of November. I have tried

I now have a specialized mail-order business selling rhododendrons and azaleas directly to the home owner at retail. Rhododendrons root well in the fall and winter and Exbury azaleas root well in spring and summer, so I can keep my benches full the year around. I have no sure-fire rooting method that has worked well three years in a row.

I have tried almost every new idea in deciduous azalea propagation through the years. I try to grow about 80 different deciduous azaleas, of which some 60 are named Exbury azaleas. A few are rather easy to propagate but, as usual, most of the best yellows, reds, and some pinks are "bearcats" to propagate.

Using a glass-house, I have tried everything from a plastic tent, plastic tent plus mist, mist only,

It is generally considered that shoots with terminal leaf buds root better than those with flower buds (4). Kemp (5) suggested that flower buds inhibited rooting in the Rhododendron shoot. De Boer increased the rooting of flowering rhododendron shoots by removing flower buds (2), as did O'Rourke with Vaccinium (7). Turezkaya, as reviewed by Selim (9), found that rooting in cuttings of Perilla and Soja decreased with flower initiation, and disappeared completely during anthesis. She

Some of our members are plant breeders and perhaps they have the greatest responsibility in this matter of naming — responsibility to themselves and their own good name, and to the public at large.

Many of our members are engaged in research. Every good plantsman knows that different kinds of plants, and different clones of the same kind of plant, differ greatly in their cultural requirements, their response to pest control methods, and their response to different methods of propagation.

Our retail nurserymen members know that different varieties have widely different values and so he, as well as other horticulturists, has a vested interest in clear, concise, easily remembered non-duplicated names. We all want to know what we are working with.

Botanical names. The botanists, since the time of Linnaeus, have had a

It is pleasing to many of us to see this new interest in the horticultural field at this level. Not only is horticulture an ancient and honorable profession, but home gardening is the number one hobby in the United States. Nearly all individuals at one time or another will be concerned with the gardens around their homes.

Propagation is the heart of any horticultural program, but as the various phases of propagation involve nearly all of a horticultural unit, I am broadening my presentation to include the overall layout of an Ornamental Horticultural Unit. This will include the following: an enclosed area for the unit and for growing plants, the greenhouse and headhouse combination, the classroom and a shade or lathhouse area. I will limit my presentation to the facilities that should be

In our time plant propagators are interested in seed propagation for several primary reasons:

1. Many homozygous seed strains (pure lines) of various species of both woody and herbaceous plants come "true from seed", that is, the seedlings are relatively uniform and resemble their parents in practically all characters.
2. Plants from heterozygous parents are quite variable, non-uniform, and seldom resemble their parents. However, certain individual plants may show superior or desired characteristics. Thus selections may be made and the chosen plant may there-after be propagated vegetatively as a clone.
3. Combinations between two pure lines may produce seedlings of exceptional quality. An example is "hybrid corn".

In our operations at Musser Forests, we store large amounts of seed in sealed jugs in refrigerated storage. In any year that nature produces a good crop, we purchase a two or three year supply of seed. Not only is the seed cheaper but the viability in a good crop year is normally greater.

As each shipment of seed is received from the supplier, it is put in the jugs for storage. A sample of approximately 1,000 seeds is kept out for testing. We test most conifers we grow except for hemlock and white pine. These species require special pre-chilling. Mr Claude Heit at the New York Agricultural

I must emphasize the word "some" in my subject title because our recent seeding experience has been limited itemwise in broadleaved evergreens to Enkianthus campanulata palibini, Kalmia latifolia, Leucothoe catesbaei, Oxydendron arborem. Pieris floribunda, Pieris Japonica, and Rhododendron species and hybrids and such deciduous Azaleas as calendulacea, Exbury, Knapbill, Slocock Hybrids, Mollis Hybrids, Mucronulatum, flavum, poukhanense, schlippenbachi, Ghent Hybrids and Kaempferi. Since the methods used have been constantly successful for the past several years this paper will therefore generally center on methods rather than the science of growing broadleaf evergreens from seed. I hope that it will be of some benefit to you today as well as to subsequent readers. Interestingly it will treat practically the same broadleaf evergreen items as did the paper of Zophar Warner presented to this Society at Cleveland in 1954. (1)

Gibberellic acid applications increased the height of one-year seedling yellow poplar, sweet gum, cherrybark oak, willow oak, and southern red oak (Nelson, 1957). GA₃ increased stem elongation of newly germinated pecan seedlings grown under greenhouse conditions (Martin and Wiggins, 1961). GA₃ treated black walnut, willow oak, and loblolly pine seedlings were 40% taller and twice as thick as untreated seedlings (U.S.D.A., 1958).

This study attempted to determine: 1. if field applications of GA₃ increased pecan seedling growth for budding and grafting earlier than untreated pecan seedlings; 2. if time of application affected response; and 3. response of pecan seedlings to repeated GA₃ treatments.

From the accompanying table you can see that initially the number and variety of the cuttings stuck was very limited. In 1958 plant propagation was a brand new field to me, and Ben Asjes gave me a list of material he wanted propagated, and off

The cuttings are stuck directly in 3" peatpots in a rooting media consisting of 53 parts peatmoss, 17½ parts #1 Perlite, 17½ parts styrofoam, 9 parts fine sand, 3 parts soil, firmly packed. We put 28 pots in a regular greenhouse flat. The flat is placed outdoors in a mist frame which is covered with cloth giving about 20% shade. This cloth is placed at an angle about 4' above the frame.

Intermittent mist is applied from about one hour after sunrise until about sunset. I cannot give you an exact

I propose to limit this paper in content since the material I am presenting results from experience and observations gained in growing Knaphill azaleas in the greater Hartford, Conn. area over an eight-year period. I do not propose to disagree with or dispute authorities in the horticultural field who have had vastly more extensive experience than I but rather submit to you for your consideration my personal experiences.

For the purpose of simplification I will refer to this group of deciduous azaleas as the Knaphill azaleas, but please realize that I include the Exbury azaleas as well.

Enright (2) reported excellent rooting, using cuttings taken in late spring or early summer. Best results were obtained using a 10-second dip in a 20,000 ppm IBA solution with cuttings wounded basally on two sides. Cuttings taken in June and kept under intermittent mist averaged 84 to 88% rooted after 63 days in the bench.

March (3) reported that the cultivar, Freeman, was propagated by using semi-hardwood cuttings taken from juvenile plants. Hormodin #3 was used and cuttings were rooted in 8 weeks under mist.

Use of juvenile trees for cuttings was also reported by Curtis (1) who used hardwood cuttings taken in November. These cuttings from young, 4 to 6 foot trees, rooted

Washed sharp sand is used as a rooting media. This is placed in a well drained propagating bench with

All of our rhododendron stock plants are grown in bushel baskets. We feed every other time we water until the first of July. We discontinue feeding stock plants from this time on.

In the middle of July stock plants will be budding up heavily. We remove the flower buds to produce another growth. Our cuttings will be either single second growths or multiple first and second growths if the cutting originated from a branch that was not cut the previous year. Cuttings are made in September, treated with a combination of IBA, Phygon and Boric Acid in tale. After twelve weeks they are lifted and potted into 1-quart Polytainers. This potting is a variance for us. Formerly, we

One year seedlings are dug in the fall and graded, taking out the small or the light grade, including trees that have a radical contortion just above the root. Also, the real large grade was generally graded off as being too large to match the better scionwood.

The root stock is stored with the roots buried in packing material, peat, sawdust or sphagnum moss or a mixture of them.

Scionwood is generally collected on warm days in February or early March. Scions of about three eighths of an inch are preferred, but five sixteenths to one half of an inch are okay.

The root stock is taken out generally in March, the tops cut off about

The grafting is done in the spring just as soon as the sap starts to rise in the stock. This is determined

Let's try and get a spray program into proper perspective in our total growing philosophy. Basically, on outdoor production (and I'm purposefully avoiding discussion of microclimates such as greenhouses, mist beds and specialized propagation structures) we are working with three noncontrollable growth factors — heat, light and air. With the controllable factors we have water and nutrition.

In these two areas of water and nutrition we can manage several things to modify our control of these factors; namely, weed control, irrigation, fertilization and pest control or insect and disease

Traditionally in most states blueberries are rooted from hardwood cuttings. The whips from the previous year's wood are 12 inches to 30 inches long, about the diameter of a pen or pencil, cut in 6-inch lengths and taken in March while the plants are dormant. The cuttings taken from the tip of the whip root better than those from the more mature wood at the base, and cuttings with leaf buds root better than those with flower buds. I first heard about rooting blueberry softwood

In 1963 we obtained dormant cuttings of red-osier dogwood from points both in the United States and Canada. Figure one indicates the collection points of dogwood and the source of specimens in the University of Minnesota Herbarium. The resulting plants were grown in the greenhouse and then transplanted in a randomized block design into the experimental plots.

Variations both in plant form and growth rate were noted during the first growing season. The extremes in variation in form are evident when comparing a typical plant from the Minneapolis area (Figure two) with those of the same age from Alaska

The rooting of stem cuttings is one of the widely used forms of asexual propagation, a fact which you all know. It involves the placing of stem pieces with one or more buds under conditions that favor the

Some of the biggest problems have been concerned with fertilization, growing medium, and winter protection. These are some of the items I would like to comment on today and hope that the results, of our studies over the past few years may be of value to you in solving some of your production problems associated with growing nursery stock in containers.

Fertilization — Fertilization appears to be one of the least understood factors in growing plants in containers. The purpose of fertilization is to provide an optimum supply of nutrients in order for plants of that particular

The reason for graftage is largely the same in or outdoors; mainly propagation of desirable characteristics, such as shapes and forms, unusual colouring of leaves, abundance and quality of fruiting, and the slowing or speeding of growth. Our nursery grows strictly ornamental plants and my remarks will deal with a number of trees which we propagate by graftage. Before going into details, I will briefly describe our methods:—

1. Splice grafting and its variant whip and tongue. 2. Triangling when understocks are larger than the scion. This is generally the case. We like to have a well established understock to give us the desired vigorous growth. In many cases we rather wait a year to geb this more vigorous growth. 3. The last method we use is bark grafting, when the

In 1963, Moore (4) described before this group a promising method he called the nurse-seed graft. The technique involved the grafting of a dormant scion into a germinated nut from which the root and shoot had been removed. Substances in the cotyledons of the

Basically, herbicides are plant poisons. Fortunately, they are selectively poisonous. This selectivity is based on a number of factors, including the ability of some plants to degrade the chemical or inactivate it in some

In a previous paper presented to the Society on the rooting of blueberry cuttings, the author mentioned the possible economic benefit of rooting cuttings under fluorescent light rather than sunlight (7).

The major reason the use of fluorescent light may be more economical than sunlight is not due to the source of light, but to the types of structures that are used in conjunction with these sources of light.

In using sunlight, one is limited to the use of a glass or plastic greenhouse in which the heat losses are rather high. By the use of fluorescent light, on the other hand, almost any type of structure may be used. Ideally, of course, it would be one that is well insulated.

The advantage of using an insulated building is that its heat losses during the winter months would be far less than that of a greenhouse.

Another and equally important advantage is that within such a building, considerable control of the environment is possible. Rapid changes in temperature and

It has been shown that crystalline indoleacetic acid (IAA) can enter the fatty portion of the cuticle of leaves without the aid of a solvent. Crystals have been applied to stems after the stem was scraped to facilitate rapid uptake of the auxin (3,4). Auxin has been soaked into wooden pegs and the pegs have been inserted into holes drilled into the cuttings (10). In England and America, cuttings have been exposed to

Kinetin was the first product identified in this group and has been the subject of much investigation in this field. Now all compounds of this type affecting plant response are classified as cytokinens. The list of these and the number of different plants from which they have been extracted is increasing ever more rapidly. These compounds, along with the gibberellins and auxins are the regulators of all cell division, cell

Controlled crossing techniques for the dioecious Populus species were developed in Europe and have been used there for several decades. The aspens (Section Leuce) may be crossed by placing bases of dormant branches in water after chilling requirements are met forcing these branches in greenhouses, and pollinating the female flowers. Fresh pollen is obtained by similarly forcing male flowers. Fertilized catkins are matured on the branches in three to four weeks. This procedure, originally developed for Salix, was first used for Populus by

The preparation of the land for open field propagation is very simple, as we practice it at Cartwrights. It consists of deep plowing, eighteen to twenty four inches deep, or sub-soiling. After this, a disc is run over the land as many times as is necessary to break up any clods and get it in good working condition. If necessary, we use a land leveler to level the field, or to give a smooth slope, but we prefer to use only a harrow as the land leveler packs the soil more than we like. After this, rows are spaced about thirty inches apart and are opened to a depth of four to six inches. The cuttings are stuck into these little furrows rather than on bedded rows.

I have selected an area that has a basic soil of loamy sand. Also, and I believe this is quite important, the area in which the beds are constructed is on a very gradual slope. Not steep but falling enough so that excess water may run off the surface rather than standing and then having to seep away.

The area is plowed and worked smooth with a disc and harrow. We are now ready to make the beds. With a dump-truck and a Melroe "Bobcat" loader, we apply three inches of sand over a 22 foot diameter circle. A metal garden edging forms the outside of the bed. With

What I have to say on quality is more or less the fruit of our own experiences over the last 8 or 9 years. I will indicate what we are doing and why we are doing it. Climatic conditions have to be taken into consideration; therefore, keep in mind that our ways of doing thinks have been geared to the climatic conditions in Vancouver, B. C., which may not be correct in a warmer, colder, or drier climate.

We started growing nursery stock in containers 8 years ago with only a few thousand 1-gallon cans to our present volume of over 100,000. In addition, we also grow a fair volume in 2¼", 3", 4" pots, 2 gallons and 5 gallons. We are not, by any means, a large producer of container-grown nursery stock, but we have always placed

First, may I outline the basic reasons for wanting to store evergreens over winter. First, in our location in west central lower Michigan, it is not uncommon for our spring digging season to begin around April 1st. Being a company that sells to the trade as far south as Kansas City. St. Louis, etc., we must be in a position to deliver when their selling season begins. Second, with a steady increase in retail competition, our customers require a plant in full color, free of all winter discoloration. Poly storage is one of the best ways I know to preserve good winter color. Third, is the fact that in our area common labor is more readily available in the fall than in the early spring.

We have a cold storage room 8' × 7' × 50', built of concrete block with one 5-ton refrigerator unit and two circulating fans cooling the structure. The structure is under ground with 3' of soil on top, so it carries a temperature close to 55° year round. We keep the temperature set at 38°F, which means it will run between 35° and 40°F. It is used primarily for precooling azalea plants brought in September for the Christmas season and also for holding azaleas back from blooming too soon, for late Easter and Mother's Day. Being empty in the summer, we thought it

A rooting medium should fulfill the following objectives:

1. Maintain the cutting in a properly oriented position.
2. Minimize moisture loss from the submerged portion of the cutting.
3. Provide a suitable environment for the elongation of roots.

Although there are various schools of thought on the characteristics of a good rooting medium, the

We began by using a poured concrete bench suspended by a 12 x 16 x 4 cinder block protruding under the concrete slab on the wall side and 1¼" pipe legs on the other side. Copper tubing spaced at 6" centers graduated from 1" to ¾" to ½", was used for our heat source. This formed a radiant heat slab. The 180° water is tempered down to 90° to give a good even heat. The two benches are zoned separately. The two zones enable us to have two different temperatures in each bench, or to shut one bench down completely. The air temperature is on another zone. This allows us to efficiently keep flats warm and air cool. We also

It is NOT my intention to discuss details concerning sterility, nutrient content, or pH of the rooting media. Rather, my concern is the oxygen content available in the media for active rooting.

B. A. Briggs states (I.P.P.S. Proceedings, 1966) if constant over-wetting of the cutting stem occurred when using the "air rooting" technique, poor rooting followed; if not, good rooting resulted. This demonstrates the necessity of a favorable water/oxygen relationship in the medium.

On Long Island plant propagators seek a commercial source of water washed "concrete grade" sand for the rooting medium. Very often the amount and value of the washing can be questioned. The mechanical analysis of a lot of sand

The use of wood residuals, as a container medium, is becoming quite popular. Many nurseries are using proportions running as high as 80–100%. This utilization of wood residual materials has been made possible by the development of methods of stabilizing the product against nitrogen withdrawal from the growing medium.

I wish to acknowledge the great service that Dr. O. A. Matkin and his Soil and Plant Laboratory, Inc., has made to the industry as a whole and more specifically to our nursery in the development of wood products into suitable growing media.

Propagation is not entirely without some difficulty. Being an early grower similar to Rhododendron mucronulatum but also a woody type, it cannot be treated as a softwood cutting during the summer but must be started before the buds develop too much in the fall. If top growth starts before the roots, the cutting cannot survive. Therefore a cool greenhouse with good bottom heat is a desirable situation.

We use sand and peat mixture as a medium, hormodin powder 3, or the last few years hormodine powder C, on cuttings started around October 1st for best results. Intermittent mist is necessary although the polyethylene tent has worked, if kept shaded so heat will not build up.

One big advantage of this plant is the ease in growing, once rooted, and the

BILL FLEMER: It can be grafted on Corylus avellana understock. The understock will sucker some but the grafted plant grows perfectly well.

MODERATOR DUGAN: Is there such a thing as Japanese oak and where can it be purchased?

JOE MCDANIEL: There are two or three of them. They grow as evergreens. They look like a holly tree at a distance without the berries. They are available in a few nurseries in the Southeast. I noticed Tom Dodd had a couple of trees in his back yard but I did not notice any acorns.

MODERATOR DUGAN: What is the proper way to plant a peat pot?

PETE VERMEULLEN: As we mentioned the other day, make sure the peat pot is soaking wet when you plant it. Then either take the rim off the top of the peat pot or else plant it deep enough so that the rim is below the soil level. If there are roots coming through the pot, there is nothing else to do but if they have not broken through the peat pot as yet,

The first point we want to make is that the stock and the scion retain their identity although of course we all know one influences the other as has been shown on many occasions by East Malling Research Station. Here we have a fairly fast growing scion of Fraxinus angustifolia worked probably onto F. excelsior and you have got this rather ugly union which you can see, I am ashamed to say, at Kew Gardens. Now what is your comment on this one Pete?

DUMMER: I am glad you let me get a word on this Brian, because if I was grafting

Nursery performance of sixteen rose rootstocks budded with five scion varieties, Etoile de Holland, Lowell Thomas, Picture, Pres. Hoover and White Prince, were reported at the Western Region meeting in 1963 (2). The majority of the rootstocks rooted well with the exception of O. S. U. 1 and 8, P.&D. 5214 and 5360, and Dr. Huey. On a comparative basis, five of the rootstocks, D-1, Ginn, P.&D. 5222 and 5234, and Van, proved to be outstanding for bud stand with the five scion varieties used in this trial. Four other rootstock-scion combinations were outstanding, O. S. U. 1 and Burr with Pres. Hoover, Burr with Etoile de Holland, and 5250 with Picture.

Injury of container-grown ornamental plants often occurs during severe winters. Commercial nurserymen have long sought to prevent this loss by over-winter storage in protected areas, use of various mulches, or covering containers with polyethylene tents. Over-wintering problems have often limited the utilization of container-growing in northern climates.

Winter injury or death has been attributed to intercellular or intracellular freezing within the plant, tissue desiccation due to transpiration exceeding water absorption, a combination of these (5, 11), and the result of rapid temperature fluctuation of the tissue (9). Maximov (7) proposed that the question of temperature influence on the root needed further investigation. He postulated that plants from different ecological groups would respond differently. Later Doring (4) found woody plants with early spring leaf development and flowering were not influenced as much by soil temperature as plants with the late spring

In selecting a stock for any plant, choice is limited to those which have a close botanical relationship. Generally, seedlings of the species are chosen as the scion. Grafts between genera are not unusual, but

Our entire production of cuttings is rooted in what we call "deep flats"; they are 12" by 18" and 3½inches deep. The bottom of the flat consists of four pieces so we have five openings where water can drain through.

Our rooting mix is a light one, 50% coarse sand, 30% yellow bulk peat and 20% coarse perlite. When the flats are filled with this mix, we then soak them in Panodrench, a mercury-base material (2 teaspoons per 3 gallons of water). In addition, all the cuttings are dipped in a Captan solution (6 tablespoons per

Perhaps, "Establishing Large Trees In Containers," would be a better title, as most of our large trees are field-grown first. However, as nursery stock planted in containers and grown for one or more seasons qualifies as "container-grown", our title may still be applicable.

Our containers are constructed from one-inch rough cedar lumber, metal-banded collapsible boxes. Loose bottoms drop in and are