158 PLANT PROPAGATION 



age. This is due to the struggle for existence in the old orchards 

 by which the weak trees have disappeared, while the grafted or- 

 chards, being made up of selected varieties of known virility and 

 hardiness, have remained more nearly intact. If the seedling or- 

 chards have suffered more than the grafted ones it must be because 

 they have had more weak spots. 



The universal favor in which graftage is held in America is 

 itself a strong presumption in its favor. Growers differ among 

 themselves as to the best methods of performing the operation, 

 but an intelligent American will not condemn the system as nec- 

 essarily bad or wrong. 



Of the vast number of grafted and budded trees sold annually by 

 nurserymen probably half die from various causes before they 

 reach bearing age, but graftage itself plays a small part in the 

 failure, as may be seen in the case of grapes and small fruits, 

 which outnumber the tree fruits in nursery stock, and of which 

 less than one-half reach maturity, and yet these are cutting- 

 grown plants. It is in nineteen cases out of twenty the care- 

 lessness of the grower which brings failure. 



It is impossible, if one considers the facts broadly and candidly, 

 to arrive at any other conclusion than this : Graftage is not 

 suited to all plants, but in those to which it is adapted — and they 

 are many — it is not a devitalizing process. 



