252 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
been split and united to other kinds, with the same view of 
obtaining a mongrel or intermediate product. But all to no pur¬ 
pose. Whenever a bud came forth it presented the pure habit, 
with the fruits and flowers of the plant whence it sprung, without 
taint of the other with which it was united. 
The best authenticated account of the intermixture of a species 
and a variety has been, it seems, exemplified between the common 
liburnum and the pale purple-flowered variety of the same. The 
insertion of a bud of the latter into the former produced both 
yellow and purple flowers from the same bud, if the reporters 
were not deceived. If this really happened, it certainly shows 
that a taint was some how communicated ; but whether upon the 
organism or into the sap is not explained. 
The Italian gardeners, it seems, are particularly desirous of 
having several fruit or flowering trees growing on the same stem ; 
but, as this cannot be done unless the whole are of the same genus, 
they have recourse to an expedient which comes within the 
bounds of practicability. They place their grafts round the base 
of the stock in such a way as, while bound to the stock, they 
make roots like cuttings entirely independent of the stock except 
for support. Thus a cultivator may have the orange, pome¬ 
granate, fig-guave, and grape-vine, all growing round an olive 
stock, and as such may be considered an aboricultural curiosity. 
The operator may wish to have it believed that he has succeeded 
in uniting those very different and discordant plants ; but the 
vegetable physiologist knows such a thing to be impossible. Their 
roots and stems may be in juxtaposition ; but their membranes 
are decidedly repulsive and dissociable. 
The ease with which different varieties of apples, pears, plums, 
peaches, &c. are placed on the same stock, causes such freaks to 
be often successfully executed, but with no other view than the 
curiosity of the thing. But by the same means orchardists may 
gain many advantages by coupling trees of different character as 
to vigour of growth and manner of bearing, either by correcting 
or advancing the growth, and consequently the fruitfulness of each 
other. The florist may do the same with his Camellias, and par¬ 
ticularly with the common rose ; and a pyramid of these last, 
composed of sorts which flower at different times, is a most 
suitable ornament for a lawn or for the columns of a conserva¬ 
tory. 
