THE GRAFT UNION. 



Some Observations on the Nature of the Union Between 

 Slock and Cion, Especially in Hard- 

 wood Grafting-. 



BY F. A. WATCH. 



Grafting is one of the most important processes in horticulture. 

 As soon as we penetrate its essential nature we find it also one of 

 the most intricate of subjects. The importance of the practice, and 

 the difficulties which stand in the way of a full understanding of it, 

 must make it always the subject of much speculation and study ; and 

 anyone who contributes, even a little, to make the knowledge of 

 graftage clearer, is doing some sort of a horticultural service. These 

 reflections must be the writer's excuse for presenting here certain 

 observations, the most of which seem to be so obvious and simple as 

 hardly to deserve statement in words. Nevertheless, in spite of 

 their obviousness, some of these simple facts have been commonly 

 overlooked, and in disregard of them, fallacious arguments have 

 been made and erroneous conclusions drawn. 



We speak of graftage as the union of a cion with a stock. In the 

 vast majority of cases the prime object — we might say almost the 

 sole object — of graftage is to secure this union. The nature of this 

 union is generally understood to determine the whole success or fail- 

 ure of the graft. We say that the cion unites with the stock; and 

 we speak of good unions and poor unions. These phrases are al- 

 most the commonest in horticulture; yet their significance is gener- 

 ally unknown, the facts are wrongly guessed, and the whole nature of 

 the matter essentially misunderstood. 



