332 SCIENCE AND FRUIT GROWING 



be one of the standing marvels in horticulture. That this nature, 

 so far as the character of the fruit and the leaves is concerned, 

 should be entirely determined by the nature of the one bud from 

 which it develops, independent of the character of the stock, 

 which weighs many thousand times more than the bud in ques- 

 tion, is, indeed, a subject of wonder. It is only in certain minor 

 respects that the stock influences the growth of the scion : 

 according to the nature of that stock, the tree exhibits more or 

 less robust growth, and assumes a more or less erect habit, 

 but such effects may be attributed simply to differences in the 

 amount of water and food-material supplied by the roots, and 

 the result does not amount to any alteration in the nature of 

 the growth from the scion. 



The nature of the scion, in the same way, appears to be generally 

 without influence on the development of the stock, though there 

 are some instances in which it affects this stock in much the 

 same way as the stock affects the scion : one or two varieties of 

 apples, e. g. Tyler's Kernel, when grown on the paradise stock 

 alter the habits of the roots to such an extent that they assume 

 the deep-rooting and straggling character of the crab stock. 



The problems presented by the budding (or grafting) of a scion 

 on to a stock are in many points akin to those presented by the 

 raising of a plant from seed, except that there is here but one 

 parent, and, therefore, no blending of diverse characteristics, 

 the product being, not a new individual, but part of the same 

 plant from which the bud was derived. The characteristics of 

 the variety are thus reproduced much more closely than in the 

 case of trees raised from seed. But are the characteristics of 

 the individual tree reproduced, and, if so, are they reproduced 

 even when they are merely acquired characteristics ? Thus, if 

 the bud is taken from an individual tree of exceptionally 

 vigorous growth, or of exceptional powers of bearing, will these 

 characters be reproduced in the tree developed from the bud? 

 and will this still be so even if the vigour of growth or of bear- 

 ing was not due to the individual nature of the tree, but 

 to some treatment to which it had been subjected, such as 

 liberal feeding, having had its growth checked, having been 

 grown on different stocks, etc. ? These are questions of great 

 practical importance, as well as of scientific interest, for if 

 such characteristics of the individual may thus be reproduced, 

 it is clear that great care should be exercised in selecting special 

 trees from which to take buds or scions ; and, moreover, the door 

 will be opened to means of gradually improving varieties of 



