LUTHER BURBANK 



contact. "With herbaceous plants like the potato 

 and tomato, the stem may unite at any portion 

 where the cut surfaces come in contact. To make 

 a neat and thoroughly satisfactory graft, however, 

 it is of course desirable to select stems of exactly 

 the same size. 



The splice graft, elsewhere described, is the 

 best one to use, and if the incisions are made with 

 care, so that the incised surfaces fit accurately 

 together, it is only necessary to tie a piece of cloth 

 about the united stems for a few days imtil union 

 has taken place. It is not necessary to use grafting 

 wax, if protected from winds and too hot sun. 

 The operation is preferably performed in the 

 greenhouse. 



With this method, I grafted the lOps of yoimg 

 tomato plants on the main stalks of potato plants, 

 at a time when the stems were about one-quarter 

 of an inch in diameter. The reverse operation, 

 grafting amputated potato tops on tomato roots, 

 was performed at the same time. 



Of course the tomato and potato belong to the 

 same genus, and it seemed reasonable to suppose 

 that such grafting might be successful. But, on the 

 other hand, numerous attempts have been made 

 to hybridize the two plants by cross poUenation, 

 and these have always resulted in failure. I have 

 tried it many times, and have never been able to 



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