132 



We asked of Mr. G., a man of large experience from a neigh- 

 boring town, "what is your experience in regard to apples ? 

 Does the fruit of the' scion partake of the natural stock ?" " I 

 never thought much about it," was the reply. " Is your fruit 

 of the same variety all alike?" "No," was the reply. 

 *' Cannot you think of some case to the point ?" " Yes ; we 

 have a Russet tree that bears uimsually large apples but they 

 do not keep well, and we sell them early." " What was the 

 stock ?" " It produced a large apple that rotted badly.'' 

 "What are its surroundings ?" we then asked. " A Russet near 

 by that bears that variety like other trees." " What was the 

 natural stock ?" " 1 don't know." " Is the land alike ?" 

 " No difference in the land ; there is but one tree between 

 them." 



We have much more evidence of like character which might 

 be presented, but think it unnecessary. All the aforesaid evi- 

 dence is the result of ordinary grafting, as we have known of 

 no instance where cross grafting has been performed for the 

 purpose of producing a new variety of fruit. 



We do not suppose that by cross-grafting in all cases the 

 varieties will mix as one can mix molasses and water, or the 

 manufacturer can mix cotton and wool and always produce a 

 fabric of the same quality. We do however believe that the 

 aforesaid statements are true, as we have endeavored to get an 

 unbiased opinion in all cases, and we think it gives sufhcicnt 

 encouragement to experiment. 



Root Grafting. Some years ago one of our neighbors 

 visited some of the imrseries in New York. It was in the 

 cold season of the year when they were engaged in root graft- 

 ing. The work of grafting is said to be performed by boys 

 and girls. They dig the roots and cut the scions in the fall, 



and keep them moist in the cellar. Process of grafting : 



Take a small piece of the root about the size of the scion and 

 splice them togetlier and tie with a string. In the spring they 

 are planted in the imrsery. The reasons for this process are, 

 trees can be produced in less time, and the fruit thought to be 

 more pure as it partakes less of the natural stock. 



