GRAFTING 



439 



Grafting among plants has been practised from an- 

 tiquity. How the idea originated or why it was origi- 

 nally practised is unknown. To grafting, however, the 

 ancients attributed results of kinds not borne out by 

 modern scientific examination. Indeed, they seem to 

 have believed it possible to graft almost any kind of 

 plants together, and thereby to be able to attain to 

 almost any desired result. 



Grafting as practised by horticulturalists consists in 

 removing a plant or a part of a plant, which is known 

 as the scion, from its own trunk, stem, or root, and 



W 



FIG. 149. Different modes of grafting: I, crown grafting; II, splice grafting; 

 III, bud grafting; W, stock; E, scion. (Strasburger, Nntt, Schenck, and Karsten.) 



transferring it to another trunk, stem, or root which is 

 known as the stock. 



It has a very useful function in that it enables the 

 operator to make use of easily cultivable stocks for the 

 purpose of supporting difficultly cultivable scions. Thus, 

 many of the luscious fruits are with great difficulty 

 reproduced from seeds and many of the most beautiful 



