VOL. LVI.—No. 3,137. 
SATURDAY, DIXTLMRER 13, 1913. 
NOTE OF THE WEEK. 
The Effects of Grafting:. 
Grafting is an operation by wliicli a por¬ 
tion of a plant of one species or variety is 
inserted into or upon another and different 
one, and this is carried out on a very large 
scale for more reasons than one. In 
the first place,obviously a cutting or 
scion so introduced is piovided at 
once with a root system by which, if 
the grow'tlis of the stock or rooted 
plants are suppressed, a far more 
rapid development is secured, and 
both fruiting and flowering is at¬ 
tained, it may be, in a single season, 
instead of a considerably longer 
period. A weakly-growing plant 
may also greatly benefit by its as¬ 
sociation Avith a robust onej and, in 
addition to this, grafting affords a 
means of propagating a'l^arity to any 
desired extent much more quickly 
than by cuttings, since simple buds 
will generally suffice, for budding is 
a fonn of grafting. Furthermore, 
while the progeny from seeds is often 
unreliable, the graft, as a nile, pro¬ 
duces a perfectly true representation 
of its parental type. To the thought¬ 
ful mind, however, the fact that such 
association can be at all relied upon 
to cause no difference in the graft or 
scion, as it is termed, is a mystery. 
Every plant normally develops a root 
system which penetrates the soil, and 
selects therefrom the earthly salts 
necessary for its nutrition and the 
formation, when they reach the foli¬ 
age, of the structural and other ma¬ 
terials required for the development 
of that particular plant. With the 
water, also collected by the root 
system, the sap is formed and trans¬ 
mitted to the leaves, in which, under the 
influence of the sunlight, and. in conjunction 
with the carbonic acid derived from the 
atmosphere, it is used by the wonderful 
leaf-green chlorophyl grains to create the 
materials afore::aid. With a graft, how- 
ever, there is no direct connection with a 
root system of its own, but with an alien 
one which will have only collected the 
earthly salts proper to its own particular 
needs. Hence it is clear that at the point 
of junction the inserted bud or scion must 
presumably exercise a process of selection 
and exclusion as regards the material sup¬ 
plied to it by the alien stock and roots, 
i^n the other hand, as regards the stock, 
as all its own buds and shoots are presum¬ 
ably suppressed by the cultivator in favour 
of the scion, it is eventually the foliage of 
this latter alone which subsequently contri- 
its alien material to the development 
and strengtJiening of the stock and its root 
system below^ the point of junction. Thus 
MR. JAMES CORNFORD. 
in their occurrence that exceptions are very 
rare. In recent times, however, a suspicion 
has arisen, particularly in the case of 
grafted fruit trees, that both flavour and 
shape, and even general appearance, may be 
affected when fine fruits are Rafted on 
common and inferior ones, and in the 
we have in view as we write, it is fairly 
demonstrated that even poisons may be able 
to run the gauntlet, so to speak, of the 
selective cells at the point of junction, and, 
by analysis, give evidence of their presence 
in an otherwise innocent graft. In the 
“Revue Hortioole” some well-authenti¬ 
cated cases are recorded in connection with 
a large number of experiments made in this 
particular direction. In the Solanum 
group, for instance, we have examples of 
the innocuous and nutritious potato 
and tomato, on the one hand, and of the 
deadly belladonna on the other, ajid as 
these belong to the self-same order it has 
been found possible to effect grafts between 
Mr. James Cornford, for 
30 years luwl gaixlcncr to (olond 
and Mr.s. Powell (\»tton, at Qtiex 
Park, HirchingUm, Kent, ocimpies a 
positioninthe front rank of eultiva- 
tors, but he is at all tinn« prompt 
to inform ihcfe who i-ongratulate 
him U|>on his suooi*«icv*, that tlM*se 
would not be w) nnim*n)iLs were it 
not for the v«wy generous manner in 
which his employers deal with their 
gar<lens. Mr. C\)rttford’8 exjK*rience 
Indore loming to Quex Park was 
gained in such wdl-known gardens 
as those of Slioreham Place and 
Chatsw’orth. Since coming to Qiiex 
Park he has supervised a great en¬ 
largement of the pleasure grounjris 
and created anew’ kitchen garden, 3,^ 
acres in extent, enclosed b}’ walls 
12ft. high, all wired for fruit trees^ 
and well furnished with peaches, 
nectarines, and pears. Mr. Corn- 
ford has been a most successful exhi¬ 
bitor, and among the thousand and 
more prizes he has won, over five hundred 
have been for chrysanthemiim.s, including 
five silver cups (one valued at £50), one 
gold medal, and many silver medals. He 
has won many prizes at exhibitions of the 
Royal Horticultural Society, including two 
Hogg Memorial Medals, two silver mediils, 
and a cup for hardy fruits. Mr. Cornford 
has been no loss successful with vegetables, 
but, better even than his splendid list of 
prizes, the fine condition of the gardens and 
groumls of Quex Park testifies to his skill 
as a cultivator and organiser. 
A Sug:g:estion for the Royal 
Horticultural Society. —Mr. Percy 
A. Cragg, of the Merivale Nurseries, Hes¬ 
ton, has no faith in criticisms which fail to 
include suggestions for improvement, and 
so, feeling that the Royal Horticultural 
Society does little for the advantage of 
market growlers, he suggests that the Coun¬ 
cil be urged ‘ ‘ to erect on an open spot two 
blocks of houses built exactly alike, and on 
tlKwe must be a revert' si*h*<’tivc and ex¬ 
clusive action on the part of the stin k it¬ 
self, sint'c, if any foliar growth is acciilen- 
tally permitted on the trunk or from tlie 
root (in the form of suckers), thes<\ as a 
rule, are unaffiected by the graft, an<l 
exactly resemble those peculiar to the 
stock. Th<«e phenomena are general 
th<Mn. .\s tin' result of grafting the tomato 
on the Ixdbnlonna it has Ih'oii <*onelu.sively 
pn)vwl that the tomato fruit proihnnnl coii. 
taiiKHl an appre<'iable quantity of an alka- 
lohl so oloM'ly akin 'atropine, the <ieadJy 
principle of the stoik plant, that it pro- 
diiceil the same pathological symptorn.s of 
poisoning. Atropine, on tln^ other hand, 
has al.'n) Inn'll fouinl pns-ent in po- 
t4i.to tuln'i's derivinl from a ]M)tato 
stoi k. on which wa*% graft^nl Datura 
Stramonium. From tlnv^* results, 
ainl many others, it is tlierefon^ 
ch'ar that tin* jMMiit of graft junc¬ 
tion r.hn's not repre.s«*iit an alisolute 
Iwir to stiK’k inllin'in !.-> on the graft 
grownliK, on the one hand, or of the 
grafts on the prod in u of the k 
or its root system on the other. 
