1 74 
Notes . 
distribution, but of more frequent occurrence than the intrastelar 
secondary thickening described above. In appearance it may be 
compared to the secondary activity seen in the cortex of Isoetes. 
These points, with other matter not mentioned here, will be fully 
dealt with in a joint paper to be published shortly. 
T. G. HILL. 
Royal College of Science, London. 
NOTE ON SOME GRAFTING- EXPERIMENTS.— The follow- 
ing results are the outcome of a series of experiments to test the 
possibility of obtaining improved varieties of cultivated plants by 
employing the process of grafting. 
The experiments of Daniel seem to show conclusively that the 
stock and scion mutually affect one another, and that, in some cases 
at all events, the changes so induced become hereditary \ So far my 
experiments have not been carried on for a sufficient time to reach 
this stage, but as they confirm several ether points brought out by 
Daniel, and introduce new ones, they are of interest. 
The most successful grafts were obtained by using seedling plants 
with from three to six leaves both for stock and scion. In the 
majority of cases tongue-grafting was used, and the scion fixed in 
position with a strip of thin gutta-percha wound round twice, and 
fastened with a ring of lead wire. Such a bandage is readily thrown 
off by the plant as the root or stem grows. If the operation is carried 
out in sunny weather, shading for three or four days is almost 
essential, and the leaf surface should be reduced to check tran- 
spiration. 
One of the easiest plants to experiment with is, the Beet {Beta 
vulgaris ), as one can rely on almost every graft being successful. 
The varieties used have been Sutton's Mammoth Long Red, Sutton’s 
Yellow Globe, Sutton’s Tankard, the Kleinwanzlebener sugar-beet, 
and the crimson beet. These are readily distinguished by their 
leaves, petioles, colour, and shape of the roots. In every case (42 
plants) the boundary line between stock and scion was sharply 
marked ; the white of the sugar-beet, for instance, did not gradually 
pass over into the crimson of the Mammoth Red — so affording a 
striking demonstration of the indiffusibility of the coloured cell-sap. 
1 Daniel, Ann. d. Sci. Nat., 1898, p. r. 
