No. 10. On the Reciprocal Injluence of the Stock and its Graft. 313 



of tlu; part of the caiidex vvliich was broiifjht 

 with the iiiirratled scion, and of the part of it 

 which rciniiined on tlie stock, in the same 

 m:iniier as diHercnt kinds of secretions are 

 ])rodiiced from the same bl(K)d in animal bo- 

 dies." This remark is made in Sect. xvi. 4, 

 " Of the I'hytologia, or Philosophy of Agri- 

 culture and Gardeninif," nevertheless, in 

 Sect. V. 2, of the same valuable work, when 

 trealinir of the circulation of the juices of 

 plants, and after quoting the experiments of 

 Fairchild and Lawrence, Dr. D. says, " I think 

 1 iiave myself observed in two pear trees 

 about twenty years old, whose branches were 

 much injured by canker, that by ingrafling 

 hardier pear scions on their summits, they be- 

 came healthier trees, which can only be ex- 

 plained from a better sanguification produced 

 in the leaves of the new buds. It has also 

 been observed by an ingenious lady, that 

 though fruit trees ingrafted on various kinds 

 of stocks are supposed to bear similar fruits, 

 yet that this is not accurately so; as on .'•ome 

 stocks she has known the ingrafted scions of ap- 

 ple trees to suffer considerable change for the 

 worse, compared with the fruit of the parent 

 tree." This fact which I deem highly ii[i 

 portant, and worthy of the greatest attention, 

 is to be coupled with that above related on the 

 authority of the American rural philosopher, 

 Joseph Cooper, and with those in Sect, ."i, 8, 

 9 and 10. Dr. Darwin doubts the influence 

 of the stock on the fruit or flower, or of the 

 graft on the stock, because of the want of 

 " recorded" cases in point, but he had forgot- 

 ten that he had himself adduced two proofs] 

 of such influence, and had referred to two 

 others. 



VI. In the second volume of the Transac- 

 tions of the Horticultui:al Society, London, p. 

 44, Mr. Luttrel gives an account of several 

 pears which were formerly cultivated ; among 

 these is the orans^e vert, or orange Bergamot. 

 After describing it, he adds, " the true time to 

 eat it, is whilst the color is upon the turn. — 

 The. fruit colors most upon quince stocks.'^ 

 This is admitting t!ie principle of the influ- 

 ence of the stock upon tiie Iruit. 



13. In the report of the Transactions of 

 the Caledonian Horticultural Society, (May, 

 1S29) Loudon's Mag. 5, p. 334, it is stated, 

 that " the Society were put in po.ssession by 

 Capt. Smith, of Dysart, of an interesting ac- 

 count of the effect of introducing buds of the 

 (Janges apple into branches of the Russian 

 transparent apple, by the ordinary process 

 of inoculation : the Ganges apple produced 

 from these buds having acquired the peculiar 

 transparency which characterizes the fruit of 

 the stock; an effect, it will be observed, that 

 goes to overturn the received opinion, that the 

 produce of the bud is in no respect affected 

 by the qualities of the stock." 



14. Mr. (i. LiNDLEY mentions* among' 

 other plans to cause bad [fruit] bearers to be 

 more prolific, the use of diffircnt slocks; &nd 

 in his commentary on this ])osition, he says, 

 in proportion as the scion and the stock ap- 

 proach each other closely, in constitution, the 

 less effect is produced by the latter ; and on 

 the contrary in proportion to the constitutional 

 difference between the stock and the scion i.s 

 the effect of the former important. Thu.s, 

 when pears are grafted or budded on the wild 

 species, apples on crabs, plums upon peaches, 

 and peaches upon peaches and almonds, the 

 .scion is, in regard to fertility, exactly in the 

 .same state as if it had not been grafted at all ; 

 while on the other hand, a great increase of 

 torlility is the result of ^tifting pears upon 

 quinces, peaches upon plums, apples upon 

 wiiite thorn, and the like. In the latter 

 ca.scs, the food ab-sorbed from the earth by the 

 root of the stock is communicated slowly and 

 unwillingly to the scion; under no circum- 

 stances is the communication between the one 

 and the other as free and perfect as if their 

 natures had been more nearly the same ; the 

 sap is impeded in its ascent, and the proper 

 juices are impeded in their descent; whence 

 arises that accumulation of secretion which is 

 sure to be attended by increased fertility."! 

 ' l.j. I shall close this communication by a 

 letter from Mr. Wm. Prince, of Flushing, 

 Long Island, in confirmation of the principle 

 for which I contend. 



Flushing, March 18, 1830. 

 Dr. Mease: 



I Dear Sir, — You request that I would in- 

 form you, if I have, from my own experience, 

 ascertained whether the stock of a tree has 

 any influence on the graft so as to affect the 

 quality of the fruit? In my father's time, I 

 had often heard this subject discu.ssed, and 

 was led firmly to believe that the stock had 

 no influence or effect whatsoever on the fruit 

 ingrafted on it, but that some sorts of seed- 

 lings grew much faster and made stronger 

 growths than others, and of course gave 

 greater vigor to the graft, but the fruit Isup- 

 ' posed would be unchanged. You may judge 

 ; therefore of my surprise, when I was all at 

 jonce convinced and satisfied that I had been in 

 I an error. Having found that the worm which 



*A Guide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden, Lon- 



Idon, l.SU, reviewed in Loiidon'-s Gardeners' Magazine, 

 jvol. vii. p. 5-1. I cannot permit this opportunity to 

 ! pass without bearing my testimony in favor of this 

 jadiniruhle miscellany, tlie circulation of wtiich i.-s ini- 

 Mnensfi in England and Knrope. No pentleman who 

 has the least taste for horticulture, ouclit to be with- 

 out it. Seven volumes have been published. 

 I fThe Editor (John Lindley, the botanist) dissents 

 from the opinion of his namesake, the practical gar- 

 jdener, and attributes the "improvement in the flavor 

 ! of fruits cntirilii to tlif ivcreii.^ed action of tkc vital func- 

 'tiiins of the leavpf.'^ I shall adiierc to facts. 

 I See his remarks in the Gardeners' Ma?., vol. vii 

 p. 554. 



