io6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The closing address of the meeting was by Professor 

 Britton on the important subject of 



GRAFTING OF NATIVE NUTS, 



Professor W. E. Britton, Horticulturist, 

 Connecticut Experiment Station. 



During the spring of 1896, 150 seedling hickories for 

 grafting were set out in nursery rows on the station 

 grounds at New Haven. These represented three different 

 species — the Shellbark {fficoria laciniosa), the Pignut (//". 

 glabra) and the Swamp Bitter-nut {H. Minima), and were 

 obtained from the nurseries of Thomas Meehan & Sons of 

 Germantown, Pa. In setting out these seedlings it was 

 impossible to dig holes deep enough to receive the long 

 tap-roots on account of a ledge which ' came near the 

 surface of the ground, so that from about one-half the 

 number of seedlings the tap-roots were removed by cutting 

 away the lower half of each. All but three of the 150 

 trees lived and grew, which goes to show that the natural 

 tap-root is not essential to the vigor of the tree. I mention 

 this because many believe that it is necessary, and that to 

 destroy it is fatal to the tree. 



The first season about fifty shellbark cions were set in 

 these seedlings and in natural sprouts that were found on 

 the Station grounds. The sprouts were mostly of the 

 species known as Mocker-nut (//. alba). Several methods 

 of grafting were employed. Cleft, tongue and bark graft- 

 ing and side and flute budding, both above and below 

 ground were practiced. Some were waxed and others 

 covered with the moist earth. Some of the cions were 

 dipped in water after preparing them for the stock, and 

 others were not dipped. Two cions started and put out their 



