Description and Results
The five seedling Chinese chestnut trees used in the experiment were selected because of their heavy-bearing tendency and because of the excellent keeping quality of the nuts. Two of the trees bear nuts of large size while the other three bear nuts of medium to small size. Seeds from the five trees were planted before the use of the seedlings as stocks in the budding experiment was planned, and since the seedlings from each tree were planted together replication of the experiment was not possible. However, the stock was grown in thoroughly mixed soil in a coldframe and differences in performance of seedlings could hardly be attributed to soil heterogeneity.
Buds from the five parent trees were placed on the five lots of their own seedlings in all combinations of budwood and stock. The work was done during the first week of September when the bark of both budwood and stock was slipping yet growth had slowed down to some extent. Buds were placed about two inches below soil level on the one-year-old seedlings and the soil pulled back to cover the buds. Budding was done by means of the familiar shield or T-bud method and rubber budding strips were used as a wrap. Budwood was shipped from Albany, Ga., to Beltsville, Md., and was damaged somewhat by high temperature in transit, a factor which may be partially responsible for the overall low percentage of buds that grew.
In referring to the results presented in table I, it will be noted that considerable variation occurred in the performance of the five lots of seedlings as stock, as well as in the take of buds from the five parent trees. The totals in the last column on the right are all equivalent to percentage since 100 buds were placed on each lot of seedlings. In like manner, the totals in the bottom line are all equivalent to percentages since 100 buds of each parent tree were used.
Seedlings of stock D were decidedly inferior to seedlings of stock C in take of buds, and both of these lots of seedlings originated from large nuts. Also, scion e gave a significantly lower take of buds on all lots of seedlings than scions c or d. The scion e tree produces small nuts whereas the scion c and d trees produce large nuts. Scions a and b are intermediate in take of buds, and the source trees both produce small nuts.