TOP-GRAFTING ITS ADVANTAGES AND POSSIBILITIES. 



is it not reasonable to expect that the 

 period at which a certain variety ripens 

 might be changed by varying the stocks 

 upon which the variety is grafted ? In 

 this connection Prof. Bailey says : 

 " Grafting often modifies the season of 

 ripening of fruit. This is brought about 

 by different habits of maturity of growth 

 in stock and scion. An experiment 

 with Winter Nedis pears showed that 

 fruit kept longer when grown upon 

 Bloodgood stocks than when grown 

 upon Flemish Beauty stocks. The lat- 

 ter stocks in this case evidently com- 

 pleted their growth sooner than the 

 others. Twenty-ounce apple has been 

 known to. ripen in advance of its season 

 by being worked upon Early Harvest. 

 If all this has been done, is it not reason- 

 able to suppose that if the Gravensteins 

 were grafted on the Ben Davis, as was 

 before suggested, not only would the 

 color be improved, but the result would 

 be Gravenstein apples with better keep- 

 ing qualities ? Some one may object 

 here that if the Gravensteins be thus 

 grafted on the Ben Davis it will not 

 only partake of the characters of the 

 latter in color and season of ripening, 

 but in other qualities as well, and we 

 shall have our Gravensteins, the pride 

 of Nova Scotia, tending to become as 

 dry and tasteless as is proverbially the 

 case with the Ben Davis. In answer to 

 this objection I would say that there 

 might be some ground for it ; yet it is 

 not a real objection, since in the com- 

 mon practice of root grafting we graft 

 the Gravenstein on to seedlings, not one 

 in ten thousand of which would pro- 

 bably be equal to the Ben Davis. 



One other point in this connection 

 is worthy of the most careful considera- 

 tion, and that is the importance of select- 

 ing scions from the best and most pro- 

 lific trees in propagating any variety. 



Every observant orchardist knows that 

 certain of his Gravenstein trees, for 

 example, bear more and better fruit than 

 certain others do, and the same is true 

 of other varieties. Not only this, but 

 certain branches of a tree bear better 

 than others. As a proof of this fact that 

 even all branches of the same tree are 

 not alike, I need only to cite the case of 

 the Red Gravenstein, which originated 

 on a single branch of Gravenstein tree. 

 With these facts before us it is scarcely 

 necessary to state the conclusion that 

 the selection of scions for grafting de" 

 serves greater consideration than it 

 usually receives. What would be 

 thought of a stock breeder who paid 

 absolutely no attention to the individual 

 characteristics of the animals he bred 

 from ! Why, even in an ordinary dairy 

 herd, kept simply for milk, we recognize 

 the importance of individuality and save 

 the heifers only from the best cows- 

 And yet when it comes to plant breed- 

 ing we take scions from any tree and 

 from any part of the tree — suckers, 

 water sprouts, anything, so long as it is 

 the desired variety. The time has come 

 to make a decided change in this respect, 

 and top-grafting offers the most simple 

 remedy, since it gives an opportunity 

 for each man to select his own scions 

 from his best trees and set them in 

 whatever stocks he prefers. 



That in this discussion we are tread- 

 ing upon ground not quite so fully 

 understood as some other fields of 

 horticulture, I am quite well aware ; yet 

 it seems to me that we do know enough 

 to warrant the belief that with sufficient 

 care in the selection of stocks and scions 

 we may greatly improve, not only the 

 productiveness of our trees but the 

 color and keeping qualities of the fruit 

 as well. — Prof. Sears before Nova Scotia 

 Fruit Growers. 



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