Vol. LXX. No. 4108. 
CONGENIAL AND UNCONGENIAL TREE 
STOCKS. 
Specimens of Curious Grafting. 
The old saying that “birds of a feather dock to¬ 
gether” is true in plant life as well as in animal life. 
The principle of natural selection is as fixed a law 
as that of the movements of the earth. Plants and 
trees of the same kind like to live together in the 
wild state, and it is so when they are under cultivation 
And there is such a thing as natural grafting, showing 
that tissues of like character may be blended one into 
the other. This may have been the origin of the 
thought of artificial grafting and budding. At least 
there is no doubt that grafting was naturally done 
long before it was attempted by man. I have seen 
many cases of forest trees of the same species having 
been united by natural contact, and occasionally there 
have been found cases of different species that were 
thus united. One most notable case that I saw was in 
northern Texas, about ten miles north of Bonham, 
where two species of oak were growing together on 
a single root. The union was about 10 feet from the 
ground. Evidently, two young saplings had been 
forced together perhaps by a falling tree bending and 
holding one into the fork of the other until vital 
union had taken place, and afterwards the top of 
one and the bottom of the other had died, leaving the 
growing tree above and below the union as distinct 
as if the two parts were on their own roots. The tree 
was as healthy and vigorous as any of the oak trees 
in that vicinity. There was evident congeniality of 
stock and scion. I have never seen a more perfect 
case of grafting in any orchard. 
But there are all manner of curious specimens of 
natural and also of artificial grafting as well. By the 
crude and accidental methods of nature only the 
really congenial species have been united, but man 
has by ingenuity and skill been able to make many 
strange combinations. He has grafted and budded 
together the pear and quince; the apple and pear; 
the pear on the wild thorn and mountain ash (which, 
however, is not an ash but a species of the genus 
Pyrus, to which the apple and pear also belong) ; the 
peach, plum and apricot; the orange, lemon, pomelo. 
NEW YORK, JULY 22, 1911. 
kumquat and any of the genus Citrus; all of the 
maples, both native and foreign. And so we might 
go on enumerating the many kinds of fruit and orna¬ 
mental trees and some of the bushes and woody vines, 
A DOUBLE-WORKED SWEET APPLE. Fig. 285. 
and also many of the plants of succulent growth, such 
as the potato and tomato, causing one plant to pro¬ 
duce tubers underground and fruit above. This has 
all been done with varying degrees of success and 
failure, owing to the congeniality or uncongeniality 
of the stocks, scions and buds, the skill with which the 
work was done and the time of doing it. The sub¬ 
ject is a large one, and requires the most intimate 
knowledge of plant life and the peculiarities of the 
species and varieties to be dealt with. 
It might seem that all varieties of the apple would 
graft and bud together perfectly. And why not? 
They are all of one species, and their tissues are sup¬ 
posed to be of one construction. Certainly they all 
have the same cellular formation. But they all have 
individuality as well. No two seedlings arc exactly 
alike in their fruit. Their leaves vary in form, and 
likewise their branches, one tree from another. And 
why should not their wood vary as well? It docs, 
and anyone who will take the trouble to study the 
peculiarities of the varieties will be able to see them. 
Some grow with much more vigor than others. Some 
are open and some close grained. When I was at 
Hope Farm the past Spring I noticed some very strik¬ 
ing contrasts in the growth of the old apple trees. 
They had all been grafted on seedlings, and as was 
the custom many years ago, when this had been done, 
the scions had been set several feet above ground. 
Some had been regrafted, because the fruit of the 
grafting did not always suit the fancy of the owner. 
Maybe the property had changed owners and the 
tastes and notions were different. At least there 
stood the record and the pictures show the contrasts 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
in growth. Fig. 284 shows a twisted trunk about 
two feet in diameter at the base that tapers to the 
place of union with the scion at four feet from the 
ground. The top, which is of the old Nyack va¬ 
riety, and all that part above the union shows it. Figs. 
285 and 286 are of double-grafted trees. The seed¬ 
ling stocks are of vigorous habit and the Nyack that 
was first grafted on them has the contracted form 
that the slower and more compact growth naturally 
made. Above are the grafts that were set in after 
years and their more robust growth is shown by the 
enlarged upper trunk and branches. Congeniality and 
uncongeniality of stock and scion are plainly shown. 
The record is undisputable. Anyone can read it. 
And so it is with other trees than those of the 
apple. There are many pear trees that have been 
grafted or budded on to seedlings that are of un¬ 
congenial character and never grow as they should. 
There arc cherry trees by thousands or even millions 
on unsuitable roots. The Mahaleb is the stock that 
is used by most nurserymen, and it makes fine looking 
trees in the nursery, and for the sour class they do 
very well in the orchard, but not so with the sweet 
or Mazzard class of varieties. The union is seemingly 
all right at first, but when the bearing age comes on 
the trees begin to fail from the uncongeniality of 
stock. Sometimes the part above where the bud was 
inserted is near enough to collar to enable it to send 
down roots of its own, and if this occurs the tree is 
safe and becomes vigorous and lives to a healthy old 
age. This is shown by the nearest tree on the right 
hand of Fig. 287, and on the left is a one on Mahaleb 
stock that is about to die. Both of these trees are 
Tartarian. Next beyond are two Bartlett pear trees 
on French seedling stocks that are not congenial, and 
they are living a life of trouble from this cause. In 
the third row are two more Tartarian cherry trees 
that were banked up with clay to keep the wind from 
blowing away the soil on a knoll which was naturally 
very sandy, and they have sent down roots of their 
own and become very vigorous. It is Mazzard upon 
Mazzard now. This view I took in an orchard in 
northern Michigan. Those who plant any of the 
sweet or Mazzard type of cherries should insist on 
having only trees that are on Mazzard roots. There 
DOUBLE-WORKED NYACK TOP. Fig. 280. 
A TWISTED STOCK. Fig. 284. 
