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 
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. 
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- 
‘ 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. 
