A GRAFT-CHIMERA IN THE APPLE 



Evidence That the Two Distinct Types of Fruits on the Same Tree Are Not 

 Due to Bud Sporting or Top-Grafting 



A. B. Stout 



New York Botanical Garden, New York City 



| HE accompanying plate illus- 



; trates two distinct sorts of fruits 



M. i 



T 



borne on an apple tree that has 

 evidently never been top-grafted. The 

 fruit shown at the right is typical of 

 the King variety; the other is nearly 

 identical with the fruits of the Rock- 

 bury Russet. The two types of fruit 

 are quite distinct in respect to size, 

 color, character of skin, flavor, and 

 texture, and the leaves of the branches 

 bearing them are noticeably different 

 especially as to size. 



The tree which bears these two 

 kinds of foliage and fruits stands in 

 the vicinity of Geneva, N. Y., in an 

 orchard owned by Mr. T. D. Whitney. 

 Mr. Whitney helped plant the tree in 

 1862, has resided on the place ever 

 since, and has for many years observed 

 the dual nature of the tree. 1 



At the present time the tree is large 

 and well developed and is about 30 

 feet in height and in spread. Most 

 branches bear the Russet fruits. About 

 20 of the smaller branches bear King 

 fruits and these branches are well 

 scattered, being found among the tip 

 branches of all of the large main divi- 

 sions of the trunk. 



EVIDENCE OF THIS AS A CHIMERA 



The occurrence of two more or less 

 distinct kinds of fruit on the same tree 

 may be due to any one of three causes, 

 as follows: (1) vegetative variation or 

 bud sporting, (2) the usual consequence 

 of top-grafting, or (3) an unusual and 

 somewhat indirect result of grafting, 

 which gives a plant in which the two 

 kinds of cells belonging to stock and 

 scion become associated together in 

 the same branches, giving what is now 

 known as a chimera. 



Dr. U. P. Hedrick, of the Geneva 

 Experiment Station, is convinced that 

 bud sporting has not occurred in the 

 tree in question. He does not consider 

 it probable that these two types of 

 fruit which differ so widely in several 

 characters can be so closely related as 

 to be parent stock and bud sport. 



Mr. Whitney is positive that the 

 tree was never top-grafted. His con- 

 tinuous association with the orchard 

 from the time of its planting to date, 

 his wide knowledge of apples, and his 

 definite recollection of this particular 

 tree make this point seem certain. The 

 scattering branches which bear King 

 fruits have not grown from King scions 

 that were grafted to branches of a 

 Russet tree. 



CHIMERAL FRUITS FOUND 



Very definite evidence that the King 

 branches are not simple top-grafts is 

 also seen in the chimeral fruits which 

 are sometimes found. Such fruits have 

 a segment that is King while the rest 

 are Russet. These show that the two 

 cells of the King and Russet varieties 

 are associated together in single twigs, 

 leaves and fruits. Such a combination 

 has thus far not been produced as a 

 direct result of grafting but chimeras 

 of this class or rank very frequently 

 occur in bud sports, they have now 

 been produced experimentally, and 

 they have also arisen incidentally as 

 indirect products of grafting, giving 

 what has frequently been called "mixed 

 plants." 



Several cases of "mixed plants" have 

 long been known to horticulturists and 

 for many years these plants aroused 

 much discussion as to their origin and 

 nature. One of these is the Bizzaria or - 



1 The writer recently had the pleasure of visiting this interesting tree together with Dr. U. P. 

 Hedrick, Mr. O. M. Taylor, and Mr. W. O. Gloyer, of the staff of the New York Experiment 

 Station, all of whom shared in the observations recorded here. 



