Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-04-25
CRAB STOCKS.

IL, headed " The Siberian Grab as a stock
for tho apple" wish for information.
Are our native crab sprouts as Objectionable
to graft into as the Siberian crab2 Are they
not the wild crab (native) Of our own soil
and natural to our country ? have seen the
crab growing wild and large on the banks Of
the Thorn Apple and Grand rivers in Mich
igan, and l do not think that they nor our
native crabs sprang from Siberia. have
engaged lot Of scions (of few varieties of
the most hardy kinds,) and wish to set them
this spring, and have one hundred native
crab sprouts from the seed. Now the ques-
ton, will it be best to graft into my crab
sprouts, or into the tops Of my old trees, or
to dig few roots from my most healthy
trees and graft themf
An answer is solicited from the editor and
your many contributors. Peradventure, it
may be Of much profit to others as we'll as to
your humble servant.
NATHAN WAY.
West Burke, April 10, 1878.
We are glad to receive practical questions
like these Of Mr.. Ways, and while attempt
ing to answer them from our own point Of
view, we should be glad if others among our
correspondents (Mr. Chapman of Middlebury,
Mr.. Lane of Cornwall, or Mr.. Pringle Of
Charlotte, for instance who have knowledge
and experience in the matter, would give us
their opinions.
This question Of stocks is fundamentally q
scientific one, and requires little knowledge
of botany in order to make it plain. Plants
are divided by the botanists into Series,
Glasses, Orders, Sub.Orders, Genera and
Species. All the apples and the pear be-
long to the ROSE ORDER, (having flowers
more or less resembling rose,) the Sub.Or-
der POmea, or Pear family, (having Heshy
fruit,) and the Genus PyrUS. This Genus
is then divided up into q number of Species,
including the common apple (Pyrus Mdlus)
the pear (Py7ts CommHnis,) the Siberian
Grab (Pyas Baccata,) and two native
American crabs (Pyrus Corondr,a and Py-
rus AngtstifoliG.)
By experience it has been found that
many plants III tuO bdtuC OOtdulSoi OAhSA Sdh
be grated upon each other, and made to
grow. But many even in the same order
cannot be 50 worked, and we know of no in.
stance where grating scions of one order into
plants Of another order succeeds. In the
rose family there are number Of orders that
cannot be worked together, as the plum, or
any of the stone fruits, with the apple, or any
of the pip fruits. Coming down to the gen.
era, we find as a rule that the different spe
cies of genus can be worked upon eacf
other with more or less success. Thus, al
of the genus Pyus can be grated inter
changeably, and the scions will take and
grow. But here comes in the work Of expe
rience, to test the question whether such
unions are profitable, or whether there are
any objections to this cross-grafting.
So well do number Of different specie
seem to succeed when cross-grafted, that nur
serymen have widely adopted the practice
and have claimed to derive various advan
tages therefrom. But experience seems eve
ry year to narrow down these claims, unit
now the best pomologists (if uninteresteC
pecrniarily) do not hesitate to say that 70
orchard purposes the less cross-grafting tn
better. As a matter of curiosity, or fo
dwarfpg purposes, cross.grafting is allowable
aud will no doubt always be practiced, bu
the trees so produced have serious defects, a
stated in our previous article.
Even among the varieties of the sam
Species there is choice to be exercised, a
will be seen well illustrated in an article OIL
the first page of this paper But betweeI
different species, and especially between tn
highly improved varieties of one species ant
the crabs or unimproved stocks Of vii,
or nearly wild species, both reason and ex
perience bid us hesitate before practiciDg it t
any great extent. 1t is true that sometimes
fine fruit Of the common apple may be graft
ed upon a Siberian or an American cra|
stock without perceptible injury, but the rll
is the other way, sometimes to the extent 0
such absolute incompatibility as exists in tn
case Of the Duchess Of Odenburgh, whic
will not make a tree at all upon a Sibera
stock. If we were in Mr.. Ways place W
would not hesitate to experiment with hi
American crabs as stocks, but We should nc
set an orchard OF trees on such stocks.