TRAINING. 
29 
If this happens before it unites with the stock, of course union afterwards 
becomes impossible. Hence the importance of the scion being* in such a 
semi-dormant state that its juices can neither be speedily dissipated by a 
dry atmosphere or bright sunshine, or wasted by premature efforts at 
growth. 
The stocks should be healthy and vigorous, well rooted, and, as far 
as possible, of suitable size. They should also be chosen with a due 
regard to the future size and uses of the trees grafted on them. For 
example, for orchard trees there are few better stocks than seedling wild 
crabs, or seedling apples of strong growing varieties. "For half-stan¬ 
dards, or orchard trees of smaller size, the Siberian Crab forms a good 
stock. For espaliers, pyramids, wall trees, or large bush apples, the 
English or Nonsuch Paradise or codlins, raised from layers, make the 
best stocks, and for all smaller plants for pot culture, cordons, and very 
dwarf bushes, the French Paradise or Doucin form the most suitable 
stocks. It is possible, by repressive culture, root pruning, severe pinch¬ 
ing, and a poor soil, &c., to starve even the freest stocks, so as to produce 
dwarf trees, but the process involves a loss of time, ,skiU, and material. 
And it is important in the culture of the apple to choose the best stocks 
for specific purposes ; the trees then naturally, as it were, assume the 
forms and sizes wanted, and fall into the cultural grooves and niches 
appointed for them. So important is this matter of a wise selection V 
of stocks, and so seriously does success or failure depend upon it, that 
growers for sale ought to warrant their stocks as horse dealers give a 
warranty with their animals; and an action for compensation in ..case 
of a false warranty ought to lie in the former case as in the latter. 
Training. 
‘‘As the twig is bent the tree’s inclined.’^ In this common proverb we 
have the philosophy and vindication of training in a nutshell. Nature’s 
methods are not always those of the cultivator. Nature is seldom in a 
hurry; she can afford to wait. Neither is she cramped for room. The 
wide world is her garden, the long ages her seasons for furnishing 
the same. If cramped for space, her remedy is extirpation, her short 
cut to it the survival of the fittest. Might is Nature’s canon of right; 
and she enforces it with inexorable firmness and unflinching persever- 
