FLORroA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



73 



Methods of vegetative propagation now 

 in use for various plants can no doubt 

 be improved. It may not be possible to 

 find better general purpose stocks for the 

 fruits long propagated by grafting — Ap- 

 ple on French Crab, Cherries on Mazzard 

 and Mahaleb stocks, Plums on Myrobalan 

 stock, Citrus on Sour Orange and Rough 

 Lemon, etc., — but for many fruit crops 

 there is undoubtedly much to be learned 

 as to how to secure the mo^t con- 

 genial relations between scion and root 

 stock and between the branching system 

 and the root system of these dual indi- 

 viduals that are grown as one plant. 

 Perhaps this may be advanced by a fur- 

 ther standardizingof root stocks through 

 their vegetative propagation. These are 

 problems incident to the arts of propaga- 

 tion. They are primarily matters requir- 

 ing the attention of nurserymen and of 

 those growers who propagate their own 

 nursery stock, 



BUD VARIATIONS 



In propagating clonal varieties nurse- 

 rymen and growers of fruit and garden 

 plants should be on the alert to correct 

 any tendency to bud variation by giving 

 proper attention to selection of buds or 

 branches for propagation so that the 

 standard type of the variety may be main- 

 tained. There appears to be a greater 

 need for such selection in certain types of 

 fruit, as the orange, than in others (ap- 

 ples for example). In many of the varie- 

 gated ornamentals bud sporting is fre- 

 quent, but is usually so conspicuous that 

 it is readily recognized and taken into 

 account. 



Bud variations are not to be confused 



with those differences in character of fo- 

 liage or fruit which arise when plants of 

 the same clonal variety are grown under 

 varied climatic and cultural conditions. 

 They are most apparent when one or more 

 buds on a plant develop into branches 

 with foliage or fruit that is unmistak- 

 ably different from the rest of the plant 

 and when the propagation from such a 

 branch gives a new variety. 



Usually bud variations give aberrant 

 types poorer than the type from which 

 they come. Many cut-leaved types of or- 

 namentals, certain varieties with varie- 

 gated foliage, certain types of flowers as 

 in Roses and in Chrysanthemums have 

 arisen as bud sports. But very few note- 

 worthy improvements in fruits have thus 

 been obtained. 



Selection of buds or propagating wood 

 from the best and the most typical indi- 

 viduals of a variety is a sound and safe 

 method in all vegetative propagation. 

 This is particularly a detail to be handled 

 by nurserymen. In respect to this matter 

 the grower is wholly dependent on the 

 nurseryman. 



DISEASES THAT ACCOMPANY CLONES 



It is becoming very evident that a clone 

 should always be kept free from diseases 

 that are transmitted from branch to 

 branch on to new plants of the clone. It 

 has been rather generally considered that 

 clonal varieties tend to "run out." That 

 they may do this by transmitting various 

 infectious diseases and perhaps physio- 

 logical disorders has now become appar- 

 ent. Especially is this the case with Pota- 

 toes in which several types of infectious 

 diseases may be transmitted to a healthy 



