CHAPTER XXXVII 



GRAFTING 



' /^1 RAFTING is the process by which a twig or 

 VJT a bud * is transplanted from one branch to 

 another, or from one tree to another. That which 

 is to serve as support and sustenance to the trans- 

 ferred part is known as the stock, while the twig or 

 bud received by it is called the graft. 



"One absolutely necessary condition must be ful- 

 filled if this operation is to be successful : the trans- 

 ferred part must find on its new nursing-branch 

 nutriment to its taste, that is to say, a sap like its 

 own. This requires that the two plants, the stock 

 and the one that furnishes the graft, should be of 

 the same species or at least belong to closely related 

 species, since likeness of sap and its products can 

 result only from likeness of organization. It would 

 be a mere waste of time to try to engraft the lilac 

 upon the rose, or the rose upon the willow, for there 

 is nothing in common between these three species 

 either in leaves, flowers, or fruit. This difference 

 in structure is invariably accompanied by a marked 

 difference in respect to nutrition. Hence the rose- 

 bud would starve to death on a lilac-branch, and 



i In English this transfer of a bud is commonly called "budding." 

 — Translator. 



184 



