TOP-GRAFTING— ITS ADVANTAGES AND 

 POSSIBILITIES. 



THE use of top-grafting in the 

 propagation of the apple is very 

 general in Nova Scotia, where 

 conditions seem to be especially 

 favorable for its success, and my object 

 in the discussion of this is to call atten- 

 tion to some of the advantages to be 

 secured by this method of propagation, 

 but which might, perhaps, be overlooked 

 by the orchardist. 



Top-grafting as usually practised has 

 this advantage over other methods of pro- 

 pagation, that we know the character of 

 the stock on which we are grafting, and 

 can therefore tell something of what the 

 effect of this stock will be on the variety 

 we are propagating. 



That the stock used does influence 

 the scion cannot be doubted, and in 

 proof of this let me cite one or two 

 instances. A most interesting case of 

 this kind was related to me by my friend, 

 Mr. Robert Starr. Briefly stated, it was 

 this : Some years ago Mr. Starr bought 

 a dozen Baldwin apple trees, and when 

 they came into bearing it was noticed 

 that one of the trees bore apples a year 

 in advance of any of the others, and the 

 fruit was so highly colored and ripened 

 so early as to be scarcely recognizable 

 as Baldwins ; yet the true Baldwin flavor 

 was there, though somewhat intensified, 

 leaving no doubt as to their identity. 

 The last tree of the lot to come into 

 bearing produced very large, light 

 colored apples that ripened very late 

 indeed, and though, when they finally 

 did ripen, there was no doubt as to 

 being Baldwins, yet the flavor was 

 exceedingly weak, by no means as pro- 

 nounced as the typical Baldwin flavor. 

 A few years after sprouts came from be- 

 low the graft on both trees, and were 



44: 



allowed to grow in order to determine 

 what characters the original stocks had 

 It was found that these sprouts exhibited 

 shown the same differences which had 

 characterized the apples. In one case 

 they were small and short jointed, reddish 

 in color, both leaves and twigs, and ripen- 

 ed early in the autumn, the leaves falling 

 before frost. In the other case the 

 sprouts were coarse and green, long joint- 

 ed, and did not stop growing in the fall 

 until nipped by frost. Without prolong- 

 ing further this phase of the discussion 

 I may say that numerous similar in- 

 stances might be given, showing con- 

 clusively that the characters possessed 

 by the stock are shown to a greater or 

 less degree by the fruit borne on the 

 tree. 



Accepting this as true, let us see what 

 practical application can be made of the 

 principle involved in securing desirable 

 qualities in our fruits, more particularly 

 in apples. First, we recognize that 

 more highly colored fruit is, as a rule, 

 desirable. Is it not possible then to 

 profoundly modify the color of any of 

 our fruit by top-grafting them upon trees 

 of more highly colored sorts ? For ex- 

 ample would not Gravensteins be im- 

 proved in color if they were worked 

 upon Ben Davis trees 1 Undoubtedly 

 they would. From our present know- 

 ledge it cannot be accurately predicted 

 to just what extent this influence would 

 be shown, but enough has already been 

 stated to show that whatever influence 

 is exerted by the stock will be toward 

 making the fruit approach in color to the 

 fruit borne by the stock. 



Again, as to season of ripening. If 

 so variable and elusive a character as 

 color of fruit is likely to be transmitted, 



