THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
43 
EFFECT OF GRAFTING. 
The Scion Sometimes Influences the Stock—Often the Stock 
Affects the Scion —Examples in Dwarfing, Color and Flavor 
of Fruit, Maturity, Adaptation to Soil and Climate 
—Advantage may be Taken of the Facts. 
When a stock and a scion are united by any method of 
graftage —including all the different ways of budding—the 
general rule is that the two parts continue to grow in their 
usual way, showing their original characters unchanged, says 
the Country Gentleman. Thus in an orchard containing 1000 
trees of Baldwins grown from budded plants, there are prob¬ 
ably 1000 different combinations of stock and scion. That is, 
the 1000 seedling apples which furnished the original stocks 
for budding were probably all different, yet the 1000 mature 
trees of Baldwin in the orchard rows show no distinguishable 
differences, and the fruit from one tree cannot be told from 
the fruit of another. What is more remarkable, the trees all 
come into blossom on the same day (barring influences of soil 
and exposure), and the fruit all ripens at the same time. 
Nevertheless this general rule is not without exceptions. 
Sometimes the scion exercises some visible influence on the 
stock, and oftener still the stock has some effect on the scion 
The most noted cases in the former category relate to the 
transference of the character of variegation. Darwin mentions 
several such instances. The variegated jessamine when 
budded on the common kind sometimes causes the stock itself 
to produce varigated leaves. The same thing occurs with 
oleander. Darwin speaks of similar cases with ash trees 
and abutilon plants. Variegation is looked upon by some, 
however, as a sort of a disease ; and, taking the view, one 
would feel that the cases cited above are examples of trans¬ 
ference of disease by inoculation rather than legitimate effects 
of graftage on normal plants. It is safe to say that for all 
practical purposes, the influence of the scion on the stock may 
be totally disregarded. 
The influence of the stock on the scion is more often visible. 
There are several fairly well known cases, some of which are 
partially understood by horticulturists. The most important 
effects of stock on scion are the following : 
1. Dwarfing—If the stock is a much slower grower than 
the scion, it may reduce the whole tree in size. Pears grafted 
on quince and common apples grafted on the dwarf Paradise 
stocks are the most common instances. In certain cases, 
especially in top-grafting old trees, the slower growing char¬ 
acter of the stock does not seem to have so much effect in 
dwarfing the top. Common varieties of the apple, like Yellow 
Transparent, King, or Fameuse, when grafted into crab tops 
are not visibly dwarfed. Instead, they “ overgrow” the stock. 
Frequently they become so top heavy as to break down of 
their own weight combined with stress of wind and fruit crop. 
2. Color of Fruit—The stock sometimes modifies the color 
of the fruit borne on the scion. Two cases have recently 
come to the attention of the writer. In the first, McIntosh 
was grafted on Siberian crab with the result of making the 
fruit much richer, red and darker colored. The trees from 
which the scions were taken grew directly beside the crab trees 
in which the grafts were set, so there could have been no mis¬ 
take in the observation. In the second case Rhode Island 
Greening was grafted on Talman Sweet with the result of 
making the Greenings lighter color. 
3. Flavor of Fruit—Likewise the flavor is sometimes 
affected. In both cases cited above this was true. The 
Greening on the sweet apple tree was said to have a sweetish 
taste. The McIntosh on the crab stock had a more sprightly 
acid flavor. The latter case was thoroughly investigated by 
the present writer. # Cases of this sort are not rare ; but 
results of this sort are not sufficiently pronounced to be worth 
working for. 
4. Maturity—The season of maturity is occasionally modi¬ 
fied. The McIntosh apples on the crab stocks kept a full 
month longer than those from the next row growing on common 
apple stocks. Bailey cites the case of twenty-ounce apples, 
which ripened earlier when worked on Early Harvest; also of 
Winter Nelis pear, which ripened earlier when grown on 
Flemish Beauty stocks than when grown on Bloodgood. 
5. Adaptation to Climate—It has been found in Iowa, 
Quebec, Vermont and other semi-arctic countries that com¬ 
paratively tender varieties of apple, like Greening, King and 
Baldwin, can be grown from one to two hundred miles further 
north when top-grafted on such “ iron-clads ” as Hibernal, 
Duchess, or even on Talman. A limited experience seems to 
show, on the other hand, that certain European varieties of 
the pear can be grown further south when worked on such 
hybrid stocks as Le Conte, Garber and Kieffer. 
6. Adaptation to Soil—Plums for light, sandy lands should 
be worked on peach ; for very low, wet lands in the South, 
they may be worked on Chickasaw stocks ; for heavy, cold soils 
in the North, Americana stocks are best. Peaches for heavy 
land are best worked on plum. Vitis Monticola, a wild grape 
from the limestone lands of Southwest Texas, is worthless for 
fruit, but is a valuable stock for other grapes on lime soils. 
Many other instances might be given. 
L 1 . J 
These are the principal modifications of the scion due to 
graftage. It will' be seen that most of them are not common 
or well marked. In a few cases, like adaptation to soil or 
climate, or in dwarfing trees, our knowledge of the subject is 
sufficient to enable us to take advantage of the facts. In 
other points, such as modification of color, flavor, maturity, 
etc., we can not be sufficiently sure of a desired result to 
justify us in trying to accomplish it by specially designed 
combinations of stock and scion. 
GROWING APPLE SEEDLINGS. 
Upon this topic R. H. Buttermore, of Lake City, Minn., says 
in the Minnesota Horticulturist: “ My experience is somewhat 
limited in comparison with those extensive nurserymen who 
plant apple seeds by the bushel. Apple seeds should be se¬ 
lected from hardy apples that were grown in Minnesota or in 
other northern states; otherwise my observatton is that the 
seedlings will be delicate and subject to blight, too tender for 
root grafts or for grafting upon. I have planted seeds from 
apples that had been grown down East, and when up some of 
them blighted, and the next winter terminated the existence 
of most of them. The practice of planting them, I believe, is 
the chief reason that we have so much blight and so many un¬ 
matured trees in the late fall, causing the black heart and other 
fatal diseases. 
“ It is not bushels of seeds that we should plant (because we 
get them easily in eastern states) and get them to grow long 
enough for dollars and cents—but our aim should be to per- 
