THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



reasons for this difficulty has lead to the introduction of quite a 

 new principle. 



Let me show a melting apparatus devised particularly for graft- 

 ing purposes. It is a transformed lantern arranged in such a 

 way that the temperature of the parafifin may be adapted to varying 

 conditions of weather. Application of this new principle allows 

 easy grafting of "difficult" species and it has opened up a vast new 

 field for the grafting of fruit trees in general and for ornamental 

 trees, and for practically all trees in fact. The new principle al- 

 lows almost anybody to graft almost any sort of tree at almost 

 any time of the year. We apply melted paraffin to all parts of a 

 graft, covering buds and all as well as the wound. It prevents 

 desiccation or drying of the graft, which so often occurred before 

 cell union had taken place under older grafting methods. Fur- 

 thermore, melted paraffin fills interstices in which sap formerly 

 collected and fermented at times. That feature is now out of the 

 way. Paraffin being translucent allows the actinic ray of light 

 to set chlorophyll into activity. The chlorophyll element is the 

 most important one relating to cell growth in the higher plants. 



[Examples of various forms of grafting of the Shagbark Hick- 

 ory and Apple were now passed about in the audience.] 



Curiously enough, some of the expert horticulturists have been 

 very slow to take up new grafting methods. I presume it means 

 that the safety of an established habit is commendable within its 

 limitations. Some Hickory and Walnut scions were sent to a 

 friend in the West with the request that they be kept out of the 

 hands of his gardener and given to some youth who was to follow 

 certain instructions. A year or so later this friend, a very busy 

 man, was asked about the success of the grafting. He replied 

 that it had been a failure and his gardener thought it was due to 

 some fault with the scions. My friend was reminded that he had 

 been warned against putting the grafts in the hands of his gardener 

 and advised to put them in charge of a boy who was to follow in- 

 structions. He replied immediately, "Oh, my gardener is a very 

 experienced man," to which I responded, "That was the trouble." 

 Visualize, if you please, a picture of a fine, old, dependable Scotch 

 gardener taking up a quite new idea at the request of a man with 

 whom he was unacquainted ! 



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