208 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Both fruited, and the first varied so as to appear two distinct varieties, and 

 from his remark that the apricot does best on its own roots we infer that the 

 plum stock exercised a degenerating influence. Mr. Knight also conducted 

 experiments from which he concludes that the condition of the parent tree 

 has much to do with the success of the cion : thus, a cion taken from a very- 

 young tree will grow vigorously, but will not blossom, while a cion from a. 

 very old tree fruits at once, but will not make a healthy tree. 



The first consideration in the every-day practice of the art is to give atten- 

 tion to the relationship of the plants, that their natures may be sufficiently 

 alike to insure their union. If different stocks are available for the cions 

 you wish to propagate, estimate their probable advantages and choose the 

 one that gives the best promise of serving the particular purpose. Observe 

 all points of resemblance and difference as to size attained, style of growth 

 and time of starting into growth; note the healthiness and vigor of the 

 stock and the plumpness and ripeness of the cion. Attention to all these 

 points will add to the successes and lessen the failures. 



In performing the operation the prime principle is the accurate adjust- 

 ment of the cambium of the cion to that of the stock; without it no union 

 can take place. It is through the cambium layer, interposed between the 

 wood and the bark, that the living connection between the roots and the 

 leaves is maintained ; it is formed by the deposit of new matter from the 

 descending assimilated sap, and it is by means of this newly formed matter 

 that union takes place between the stock and cion; hence the necessity of 

 the accurate adjustment of this natural and only channel by which commu- 

 nication can be maintained. 



Several cases have come under my own observation, where young men 

 who had given the subject some study had read the rules laid down and 

 were able to repeat them, yet when they came to handle the knife made 

 most serious blunders on this very point, showing a lack of understanding 

 or misinterpretation of the principles they could repeat so readily. In this 

 connection I wish to quote from a paper read before the Koyal Horticultu- 

 ral Society of London by the Chairman, Mr. James Bateman. He says: 

 "The theory and practice of grafting is little understood by the young gar- 

 deners who come to Chiswick to complete their education. It is rare that 

 any of them are able to graft successfully until after the erroneous notions 

 with which they have come imbued are eradicated and corrected. It seems that 

 the drawings and wood-cuts given by the most eminent writers on the sub- 

 ject almost always convey an erroneous impression on the very point on 

 which success entirely depends. The wood-cuts of the slips and grafts pre- 

 pared for adhesion turn the attention more to an equality of dimension and 

 to a correct fitting of the outside of the bark of the one to the outside of 

 the bark of the other than to an exact apposition of the cambium of the one 

 to that of the other, on which, in point of fact, adhesion and grafting abso- 

 lutely and solely depend." Mr. Bateman's remarks are to the point, and 

 may well serve as an illustration of the utility and necessity of laboratory 

 practice for the student in horticulture, as well as for the student in any of 

 the other sciences. 



The purposes for which grafting is used are various, the main one being, 

 as before remarked, the perpetuation of varieties of plants valuable for 

 fruit, flower, or beauty of foliage. 



A thousand orchards contain Baldwin, Northern Spy, or Canada Ked 

 trees. Each variety had its origin in a single tree ; generation after genera- 



