104 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



eral inches near the ground. The twigs, still covered 

 with abupdant foliage, are so affected by the frost, that 

 their whole outer surface is shriveled, and the inner bark 

 and wood are browned ; the latter often becomes perma- 

 nently blackened, and remains as dead matter in the centre 

 of the tree, for death does not necessarily ensue. Now in- 

 telligent nurserymen have endeavored to avoid losses 

 from these causes, by budding such varieties upon strong 

 well-established stocks, though they are aware that these 

 are not more hardy than some of the cultivated varieties : 

 a given number of seedling stocks has been found to suffer 

 as much from the severity of winter, as do a similar amount 

 of the grafted varieties taken at random.* That the se- 

 rious difficulty of bark-bursting occurs near the surface of 

 the ground, does seem to be an argument of some weight in 

 favor of budding or stock-grafting at a higher point. The 

 earlier fruiting of budded trees than those which have 

 been root-grafted, does not appear to be a well established 

 fact, and therefore need not detain us ; except to observe 

 that the stocks, upon which the buds were inserted, might 

 have been older by some years than the slip of root upon 

 which the graft was set, so that the fruiting of the former 

 tree should count two or three or more years further back 

 than from the period of the budding. There are so many 

 causes which might have contributed toward this result 

 of earlier bearing, that we should not be too hasty in 

 drawing conclusions in this matter. 



The philosophy of budding is very similar to that of 

 grafting. The latter process is performed when the plant- 

 life is almost dormant, and the co-apted parts are ready to 



* A. R. Whitney, Franklin Grove Nurseries, Lee Co., 111. 



