NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. 77 



but not as yet in the cion itself. Mr. Smith did it readily. 

 One very curious case of affecting the stock was an attempt 

 to bud a lot of horse chestnuts with a yellow leaved 

 variety. In nearly all cases the buds failed to grow, yet 

 each stock produced yellow leaves as perfectly as the 

 original tree. They evidently were inoculated with 

 disease. 



Fourth. Hardiness. There is much to show that the 

 cion is affected by the'hardiness of the stock, although this 

 can be traced much more often to the better adaptability 

 of the stock to the soil or locality. The severe winters of 

 '74 and '75 killed hundreds of Baldwins in Michigan, when 

 root-grafted or marked low on seedlings, while top-grafted 

 trees usually escaped — that is, were not hardy upon their 

 own trunks, but were upon others. 



The peach in England does better on plum roots, the 

 damp climate and soil not being favorable to it. The 

 same kind of tree has often been recommended for heavy 

 soils here, yet has not proved to be so owing to other 

 unfavorable conditions. Conversely we might expect the 

 plum or peach to be better on light soils, yet I find no 

 definite record of such an instance. Some of the peculiar 

 influences recorded are the so-called graft hybrids whicjb 

 may be put under two classes — the split cion, and cion and 

 stock. The first of these, where two cions are joined and 

 said to grow and produce a variety that partakes of both 

 has been to the writer always considered a myth. The 

 sweet and sour apple has been attributed to this source. 

 But when such a man as Thos. Meehan says he has pro- 

 duced them, we must believe it. His experiment is inter- 

 esting. He combined Rhode Island Greening and Red 

 Astrachan. Of twelve set, three grew; two afterward bore 

 fruit. Of these, the first had the light flower of the 

 Greening, with nearly a Red Astrachan fruit. The other 

 had the Greening blossom, the fruit colored like the Red 

 Astrachan, but in size and shape and stem like a crab. 

 When re-grafted a few years later the hybrid characteristics 

 nearly disappeared, and a Red Astrachan resulted. The 

 sweet and sour apple above mentioned can be accounted 

 for in other ways but could also in this. There are some 



