118 
EOTAL HOBTICIJLTTJEAL SOCIETY. 
has not taken place, botli of the scion and the stock, is in a 
more or less advanced state of decay. In no instance is this 
absent, it is an inherent necessity in the very process of grafting 
that the seeds of decay be shut up along with it. In fact one 
inevitable ingredient in the manufacture of grafts, concomitant, 
coexistent, and inseparable from it, is the simultaneous manu- 
facture of an ulcer in its heart. Exactly the same thing takes 
place in budding, although on a smaller scale — the larger the 
extent of the cut surfaces applied to each other, the greater 
being the extent of future decay ; and of course in budding this 
space is small in comparison with that in grafting ; and of course, 
too, the smaller the amount of exposed surface or cut wood, the 
less will be the amount of ulcer or decay subsequently mani- 
fested in the heart of the branch. I was about to say that the 
smaller the amount of this surface, the greater would be the skill 
of the operator ; but this would imply that the decay in the heart 
of the branch was injurious to the plant, and was, if possible, to 
be avoided ; and I am not sure that we are to take this for 
granted. Of course, if we want a perfect tree complete of its 
kind, doing all its functions in the best manner for itself and the 
general purpose it is to serve in organic nature, we must say that it 
would be better without the decay in the heart of the graft, and 
that that decay must be looked upon as a blemish. But that is 
not what we want in every case of grafting : in fruit-trees we do 
not want a normal amount of fruit, we want an excessive amount ; 
in rose-trees our demand for flowers is not limited to nature's 
natural bounty ; like Oliver, we come back for more, not once, but 
many times. Now it is well known that one of the surest means 
of inducing an excessive production of flower and fruit, is to 
weaken the vitality of the plant. It is no uncommon thing to 
hear people say that a plant had killed itself by its excessive 
flourish the previous year, whereas it was not the flourish that 
killed it, but the plant, knowing that it was going to die, made a 
desperate effort to propagate its species before its life was extinct. 
Now, if the implanting of decay in the heart of a tree is injurious 
to the health of that tree, it may have the eff'ect of inducing 
something of this excessive effort at propagation. I have heard 
it said that grafted trees always bear better than ungrafted ; but 
as to that we have plenty of practical men who can speak with 
authority. It is to be observed, too, that the decay of which I 
speak is limited in its extent and slow in its progress. It is shut up 
