868 THE SCION AFFECTS THE STOCK. 



Jasmine, the leaves of wliich were green. The bud adhered to 

 the bark of its stock, but never pushed. The succeeding year 

 a slight appearance of variegation came out upon the leaves of 

 the revolute Jasmiae. The next year a workman cut out the 

 branch which had been budded ; so that the revolute Jasmine 

 was thus apparently deprived of all influence from the 

 variegated bud. Nevertheless, the variegation in the remain- 

 der of the plant continued to increase, and some years since 

 the leaves and branches are all variegated, even more than the 

 white Jasmine whose bud was originally inserted. This proves 

 that, under some circumstances, the scion will affect the 

 quality, although not the organization, of the stock ; and if a 

 taint producing variegation can be thus communicated, why 

 not some other quality ? It is highly probable, if not certain, 

 that the curious Cytisus Adami, or purple Laburnum, which is 

 sometimes Cytisus Laburnum, sometimes C. purpureus, some- 

 times a mixture of the two, is a common Laburnum tainted by 

 a purple Cytisus in the same way as Anderson's Jasmine. 



A correspondent has pointed out a passage in Scripture ■whieh bears 

 upon this subject. It occurs in the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the 

 Romans, and more particularly in the 24th verse : — " Por if thou wert 

 cut out of the OUye-tree, which is wild by nature, and were graffed 

 contrary to nature into a good Olive-tree, how much more shall these, 

 which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own Olive-tree ! " 

 Bloomfleld says, in alluding to this chapter, " Commentators have 

 assigned many reasons for the departure from the usual mode of 

 grafting trees, but these are rendered nugatory by the researches of 

 Bredenkamp, who has ascertained that ia ancient times it was usual to 

 engraft the wild into the garden tree, to promote fruitfnlness." It 

 would thus appear that decaying trees might be revived by an insertion 

 of branches from a vigorous wild tree, and that the custom was practised 

 when St. Paul made use of it to illustrate the relative positions of the 

 Jewish and Gentile churches. The practice in question was known to 

 PMny, and is thus spoken of by his editor, Holland (xvii., c. 18) : " In 

 Barbarie, the people have this practice peculiar to themselves ; for to 

 graft in a wild Olive stooke, whereby they continue a certain perpetuity ; 

 for even as the boughs that were graffed and (as I may say) adopted 

 first, wax old and grow to decay, a second quickly putteth forth afresh, 

 taken new from another tree, and in the same old stocke sheweth' 

 young and lively ; and after it a third successively, and as many as 

 need ; so as by this means they take order to eternize their Olives ; 



