GRAFTING 409 



grafted upon one another; plants of the same species, 

 but of different varieties can usually be grafted one upon 

 the other; plants of different species can sometimes be 

 grafted one upon the other; plants of different genera can 

 rarely be drafted upon one another, and after the generic 

 line is past, attempts made to graft individuals of differ- 

 ent families and orders, invariably fail. 



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 

 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 

 flowers, being hybrids and infertile, cannot be raised 

 from seeds and so would be lost were it not possible to 

 propagate them either by slipping or grafting. The graft- 

 ing of such plants also removes the risk of sporting and 

 reversion that would undoubtedly occur if seeds of the 

 fertile kinds were alone depended upon for their propa- 

 gation. Slow-growing fruit trees that might not bear 

 fruit for eight or ten years can be made to bear in one 

 or two years by grafting them upon already well-grown 

 trees of inferior quality. 



The stock that furnishes the roots is derived from one 

 plant, the scion that will bear the fruit is derived from 

 another and usually superior plant, Will the sap ascend- 



