356 In/iitdicc of t/te Stock on t?te Scio)i, and rice rc7'sa. 



This disease, for T Iiold that all variegation is in some manner unhealthy, had 

 evidently been communicated from the bud or scion to the stock before the death of 

 the former, and for a short time, during its vain struggle for existence, contaminated 

 the parts below. 



The Scientific Committee, of the Royal Horticultural Society of England, also 

 records a like case with a yellow-leaved Laburnum. After the inserted bud bad 

 died, variegated shoots were noticed issuing fron> the stock, both below and above 

 the inserted point. And Dr. Masters, the English botanist, has stated that an 

 Abutilon had thrown out variegated shoots after grafting with a variegated variety, 

 but ceased to do so after the inserted graft died. 



But, in some instances, the stock exerts a marked influence upon the scion, thus 

 showing the co-operative system in use between them. The Gardener^s Chronicle 

 mentions an instance of a couple of Muscat vines worked on the Black Hamburgh, 

 in the same house with a Muscat, on its own roots. Those worked on the Hamburgh 

 start fully five or six days in advance of the one on its own roots, although they are 

 nearly a fortnight behind the Hamburghs they are worked on. It is a curious fact 

 that there has never been seen any difi"erence in the ripening season, nor any eflFect 

 on the fruit. 



As we stated in the commencement, certain marked peculiarities will, sooner or 

 later, always make themselves known ; sometimes it will be one thing, and again 

 another and totally different feature assumes the superiority. The governing cause, 

 involved in mystery as it is, to a certain extent, affords us a clue by means of 

 which we may study a very useful lesson in plant life. 



We know that all vegetable growth arises from a cell, and what is termed young 

 shoots, leaves, blossoms, etc., are, in fact, but an accumulation of cells, which, in 

 time, develop woody fibre and other organs. The propagator of new varieties knows 

 that a single bud, or a section of a young branch, may be inserted in a different tree, 

 and these will unite and produce fruits and flowers similar to the kind from which 

 said bud or graft was taken. Now, let us inquire into the changes that occur during 

 this growing process, or, as horticulturists term it, " taking." Between the wood 

 and bark is where active growth takes place, and the layer of young cells found here 

 is known as the Cambium layer. All growth, of whatever nature, is by cells, the 

 origin of which is, however, at present unknown. But this cell-growth is accom- 

 plished by small protuberances, making their appearance on the walls of the older 

 cells, and these rapidly increase, and again, in turn, assist in the formation of others, 

 and this is carried on s6 long as growth takes place. Without going into a long 

 dissertation upon tho subject of cell-growth, which would form a long essay in itself, 

 I will merely state that the question has been asked in relation to a budded tree, 

 can the cells, at the point of union, be partly of one variety and a part belong to 

 another? My theory is, that a cell, singly, is entirely a component part of the 

 variety from which it originates, either from the scion or stock, and is invested with 

 all the powers and principles inherent in that part. A single cell cannot be of two 

 varieties, but a collection of cells, as, for instance, the cellular iiss2ie, may be formed 

 partly of both. The vascular or fibrous tissue is governed by the same laws, each 

 separate, but the little bundles of woody tissue uniting by their outside covering or 



