106 REPRODUCTION OF PLANTS. 



answer the intention of the planter." Having 

 suspected that the decay in some trees he had 

 seen recently grafted might be the consequence 

 of the diseased condition of the grafts, Mr. 

 Knight says, " I concluded that if I took scions 

 or buds from trees grafted in the year preced- 

 ing, I should succeed in propagating any kind I 

 chose. With this view, 1 inserted some cuttings 

 of the best wood I could find in the old trees, 

 on young stocks raised from seed. I again in- 

 serted grafts and buds taken from these on other 

 young stocks, and wishing to get rid of all con- 

 nection with the old trees, I repeated this six 

 years ; each year taking the young shoots from 

 the trees last grafted. Stocks of different kinds 

 were tried, some were double grafted, others ob- 

 tained from apple trees which grew from cuttings, 

 and others from the seed of each kind of fruit 

 afterwards inserted on them ; I was surprised to 

 find that many of these stocks inherited all the 

 diseases of the parent trees." Mr. Knight came 

 at last to the conclusion which subsequent expe- 

 rience has fully confirmed, " that all efforts, to 

 make grafts from old and worn out trees grow, 

 are ineffectual," and that " the durability of the 

 apple and pear may be different in different 



